Now playing: La Resurrezione - An Oratorio by G. F. Handel | Ottavio Dantone conducts Accademia Bizantina by Total Baroque. Paused, Muted
La Resurrezione - An Oratorio by G. F. Handel | Ottavio Dantone conducts Accademia Bizantina
In 1708, the young Handel was staying in Rome, where opera was banned during Lent. Under the protection of Marquis Francesco Ruspoli, he turned instead to the oratorio, a religious genre which nevertheless borrows from opera its theatrical instinct, its passions and its virtuosity.
First performed on Easter Day, La Resurrezione recounts the hours following Christ's death through the figures of Lucifer, an Angel, Mary Magdalene, Mary Cleophas and Saint John. With this flamboyant score, the compos