the FestspieleOrchester Göttingen, playing with exceptional grace and clarity, and the nimble, noble NDR Choir, emoting with fabulous power and dymanic range. The disc has expressively rich and characterful soloists: Kenneth Tarver, superb in the title role, backed up by a gloriously sonorous Tobias Berndt, the lissom loveliness of Anna Dennis, and the full-cream warmth of Renata Pokupic.

As always, Cumming’s pacing of the music is so incredibly well judged that both narrative and music flow unimpeded. A real joy both in terms of content and interpretation.

the oratorio crackles alarm at a theatrical pace. The Göttingen Festival Orchestra perform with marvellous flexibility...the orchestra prefer solemnity over mere bellicosity in the grand march illustrating the circumvention of the Ark of the Covenant... It's easy to see why Handel's knockout blow impressed Haydn, who heard it at Westminster Abbey in 1791.

The chorus are all-important in this work, and the NDR Chor do not disappoint, with very good English and flexible singing that responds fittingly to every situation. The occasional orchestra are also great, the trumpets and drums revelling in the full ceremonial moments of the battles, and the various instrumental solos sounding very good...Cummings directs the whole thing with an unfailing ear for the drama but never losing sight of the music's beauty.

Not the deepest of dramas, it contains much strong martial music, while the contrived love interest gives rise to touching numbers. Cummings directs a compelling live performance.

[Cummings] is a persuasive Handelian with a lively stylistic sense to which the excellent instrumentalists respond with warmth and immediacy.