“A noble, disquieting examination of man’s response to God’s inscrutable nature, [Jephtha’s] dark tone and at times troubling emotional depth are widely taken to reflect the fact that Handel’s sight was failing while he worked on the score.”
– The Guardian
George Frideric Handel’s oratorio Jephtha has been called “the crown of his unique achievement in music” by biographer Jonathan Keates. Conductor David Stern, Program Director of the Heifetz Baroque Vocal Workshop, says it contains some of the “most heart-meltingly gorgeous music Handel ever wrote,” including a pair of airs performed at the very first Heifetz Baroque Showcase.
See if you don’t agree, as tenor Yanick Gosselin sings “Waft Her, Angels,” as he prepares to carry out his Biblical bargain of human sacrifice. It’s then followed by “Farewell, Ye Limpid Springs and Floods,” as daughter Iphis (soprano Anne Van Der Sloot) serenely prepares to meet her fate. (Spoiler alert…the Angels intercede…)
Check out their performance with the newly-created “Heifetz Baroque Chamber Orchestra,” led by David Stern in the wooden wonderland of the American Shakespeare Center’s Blackfriars Playhouse.
Jephtha’s Rash Vow (1807), by James Gundee & M. Jones, London
A depiction of the Old Testament narrative of the Israelite general Jephtha, who swears to sacrifice the first living being he sees on returning from battle if God grants him victory, Who knew it would be his own daughter Iphis?