Handel the Merciful: His Last Oratorio, "Jephtha"

Despite the fact he never married, or perhaps because of it, no one to my knowledge has ever accused the baroque composer George Frideric Handel of being a misogynist. Quite the contrary, he frequently re-wrote parts of The Messiah so that sopranos in particular and other soloists could appear at their best.

Handel was definitely a "singer's composer."





All of which brings me to historic Trinity Church in downtown Manhattan and its St. Paul Chapel where the church's choir and baroque orchestra under the direction of Julian Wachner have just begun the seemingly gargantuan task of performing all of Handel's 27 oratorios over a period of about four years. You can read the New York Times account of the project here.

I attended the second performance today and heard the last of Act 1 and most of Act 2 of "Jephtha," the composer's last oratorio, completed as his eyesight was failing. The quality of the orchestra, the choir and the soloists was absolutely first rate. 

Handel's music "requires great thought, great interpretation," Wachner told The Times, and those notions came through in compelling fashion on Wednesday. You can't just play it, he said. It doesn't work that way.

If I had to pick out one aria in particular as being rendered with great beauty and sensitivity, it would be "Up the dreadful steep ascending" by he countertenor Jakub Jozef Orlinski.

Why is the headline for this post entitled "Handel the Merciful?"

Well, this is another one of those stories where a father makes a rash promise to a god -- the god of the Old Testament Bible in this case -- and ends up having to sacrifice a child -- his only daughter, the unmarried, virginal Iphis.

In my previous post, I noted two instances where gods had required important mortals to sacrifice their sons, but in both cases -- that of Abraham in the Bible and Idomeneo in Mozart's opera of the same name -- the sons were ultimately spared by the gods in question. 

Not so in the Bible's Book of Judges where, after a brief delay, Jephtha kills his daughter as required. Needless to say, this arguably misogynistic act by the Judeo-Christian god (he spared Abraham's son and could certainly have spared the innocent, loving Iphsis as well) has disturbed Jews and Christians to the point where the passage has been reinterpreted by some to say that she wasn't actually killed -- just put in seclusion and required to remain a virgin.

Enter Handel.  No misogynist him, and no need for any confusion.  In "Jephtha," the oratorio, an angel appears to stop the ridiculous sacrifice and Iphis need only dedicate her life to the Lord. Whew!

This will all be revealed in Handel's wonderful music next Wednesday at 1:00 PM at St. Paul's Chapel when Act 3 is performed.  The performance is free, but I would advise getting there early if you want a seat. Based on the enthusiasm of today's attendees, this could become an exceptionally popular series.