Handel’s contemporaries shunned “Theodora”. But it is a masterpiece
After more than 270 years, a great oratorio returns to Covent Garden
HOW LONG can it take for a flop to become a smash? In the case of one of George Frideric Handel’s oratorios, the answer is around 250 years. In February 1750 the composer turned 65. A few weeks later the London audience which, for almost four decades, he had regaled with operas in Italian and sacred choral works in English, snubbed his latest offering. For the opening night of “Theodora”, the theatre at Covent Garden was half-empty.
This article appeared in the Culture section of the print edition under the headline “He on wings could rise”
Culture January 29th 2022
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