Handel: Israel in Egypt

From there, history took its course, and George Frederic Handel – a British citizen since 1727 – became the foremost English national composer of the time. His fame is not founded on his Italian operas written for London, but instead, it is based on his oratorios written for his adopted country. These oratorios idealise biblical heroes in a political way, they allow the British listeners to identify with God’s chosen people, the Jews: they overlay the past with the present, drama with reality, and art with the modern state – combined, they cement the triumph of Handel’s oratorios.

It was a triumph of the highest patriotic order over the looked-down upon entertainment called Italian opera. But the 1739 oratorio »Israel in Egypt« – first heard at London’s King’s Theatre and now performed by Philipp Ahmann and the NDR Chor – surpassed such historical patriotism. It creates an almost visionary musical theatre: a grand opera without a stage, a historical drama with tableaus and epic dimensions, in short, it is a living legend.