‘Ought we not to leave the free-born mind of man still ever free?” the martyr Didymus asks in Handel’s Theodora, given its first complete Proms performance by Arcangelo under Jonathan Cohen. Unsuccessful at its 1750 premiere, Handel’s examination of the persecution of the early church under the Roman empire languished in limbo until the 1990s, when re-evaluation of the score revealed it to be among his greatest. New generations of audiences, meanwhile, have found in its demand for absolute freedom of conscience a reflection of the concerns of our own times that far transcends the immediate context of its narrative.
Cohen’s interpretation was notable for its austere beauty. Dark instrumental textures added immeasurably to the sombre mood, while Arcangelo’s choir, carefully differentiating between Roman hedonism and Christian severity, sounded glorious, despite the occasional blurring of detail in the echoey acoustic. Cohen’s judgment of the work’s measured dramatic momentum was wonderfully assured, which made the decision to insert the single interval partway through the second act – precisely at a point where one wanted him to press on – seem curiously awkward.
Louise Alder, radiantly assertive, played the title role, meanwhile, opposite Iestyn Davies’s ardent Didymus, their voices blending perfectly in their final duet. Benjamin Hulett made an outstanding Septimius: Descend, Kind Pity, noble in its eloquence, was one of the evening’s real high points. As Irene, Ann Hallenberg sang with undeniable beauty, but didn’t always capture the fierce exaltation that some have brought to the role. Tareq Nazmi’s Valens, similarly, impressed with his warm tone, but wasn’t nearly threatening enough in his depiction of the man’s monstrosity.
• This review was amended on 9 September to correct the spelling of Louise Alder in the headline.
