René Jacobs at La Monnaie

It was at the age of 22, at the start of his stay in Italy, that Handel composed his second oratorio, La Resurrezione, whose subject was the Biblical account of Christ’s resurrection. This brilliant score shows Handel’s dramatic talent to the full, not only in the special effects he incorporated, but undoubtedly also because of his clever characterisations. It is musically very closely linked to opera, to the extent that Handel inserted an identical aria into Agrippina, the opera he wrote shortly afterwards. The first performance of this work, with five soloists and an exceptionally large orchestra, was conducted by Archangelo Corelli on Easter Sunday 1708. Now it is René Jacobs who is conducting a host of excellent singers and the baroque orchestra Le Cercle de l’Harmonie, which undoubtedly promises a lively and authentic interpretation.