Ars Lyrica -"Esther" George Frideric Handel (1685-1759)

Esther & Jonah
Friday, February 16 at 7:30 pm
Zilkha Hall / Hobby Center For The Performing Arts
Soloists (in order of appearance):
Officer Cody Arthur
Haman Christopher Besch
1st Israelite Cody Arthur
2nd Israelite Renée Rybolt
3rd Israelite (alto) Aryeh Nussbaum Cohen
Esther Jennifer Bates
Mordecai Eduardo Tercero
Ahasuerus Tony Boutté
Conductor Matthew Dirst
Bach Society Houston
Rick Erickson, Director
Ars Lyrica Houston
Matthew Dirst, Artistic Director
Produced in collaboration with Bach Society Houston as part of the 2018 Houston Early Music Festival, this program comprises two concise music dramas from opposite ends of the 18th century: G. F. Handel’s Esther (1718) and Samuel Felsted’s Jonah (1775). With gorgeous arias and stirring choruses, Handel’s first English-language oratorio celebrates an Old Testament heroine’s ultimate victory over the forces of evil. Such works provided valuable models for Samuel Felsted, a composer born to an English family in Jamaica in the early 1740s. His concise setting of the story of Jonah and the whale is the first American oratorio.
© Ars Lyrica Houston 2018 www.arslyricahouston.org
Video and Audio produced by Runaway Productions LLC

[@Eyiba07]

This work will always have me in awe. This performance is just amazing.

[@chefpollotoro7879]

Wuuuuuuoouuuu wuuuuuuoouuuu ❤ Amazing concert! Qué excelentes músicas y músicos, qué maestría y sentimientos tan profundos para interpretar ésta obra. Saludos a tod@s desde México.❤❤❤

[@valtergilenardi2639]

26 Giugno 2024 alle 3:23 a.m. mi sono svegliato e ho klikkato questo Meraviglioso Oratorio del Grandissimo George Friedrich Handel....👑🇬🇧✝️🎼🎶🎶 Woooow !!! Grazie Signore Iddio del Cielo che ci hai donato il Caro Sassone ! 9:39 😊🙏✨🎇🎆🌌❤ Meglio di qualsiasi tipo Medicina 💊⚗😅😅😅😅😅😅 Saluti da Lecce South Italy. Ad Maiora Semper

[@brownmullins]

The world needs the old stories. Thank you so much for sharing such rich music.

[@giancarlobui4187]

Ottima esecuzione e registrazione.

[@mckernan603]

Thanks for sharing

[@junemarshall-kingsley566]

Lots of soul and heart in this presentation! Love the musicians!

[@ukuleleph]

Wow! Magnifique! So many emotions as you watch and follow the libretto. Thanks for making this available. Cheers from Scotland.

[@jmcampbell05]

Jennifer Bates is SUPERB!

[@MaestroGeo]

This Cantata is of special significance to Fisk University in Nashville, TN. "Music City, USA".

[@jignacioish131]

This is an ORATORIO, not a cantata, Geo.

[@MaestroGeo]

@@jignacioish131 Well, in the winter of 1870 when singers from Fisk were receiving rave reviews for their performances of this piece it was billed as "The Cantata of Ester" by G.F. Handel. Maggie Porter would sing the role of Ester and she and other members of their troupe (which was led by professor George L. White) went on the become world famous as the Original Fisk Jubilee Singers. Here's a quote from her bio; "In the winter of 1870, George White asked Porter to star in Handel's "Cantata of Esther," which would be performed around Nashville the following spring. Porter, who had sung under White when she was a student at Fisk, agreed to study for the part on her own, since she wasn't living in Nashville and was still employed as a teacher. Receiving great acclaim for her role as Queen Esther, the eighteen-year-old Porter decided to join White's choir for their upcoming tour." Read the whole story of Porter here: www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/features/singers-porter/

[@jean-luclavier3978]

Magnifique. Merci!

[@michaeltruthseeker6584]

An incredible performance!! Had some trouble at the beginning of the finale chorus, but you pulled it back together very nicely.

[@yvonjervis1971]

*Esther* is a masterpiece. 😍😍

[@MMendelG]

What a wonderful performance--just perfect for the Purim holiday just past. The aria of Mordechai at 1:01 and the Israelite chorus that follows are both inspiring. And the denouement between Haman's pleading at 1:08 and Esther's sharp rebuff that follows are quite dramatic. [There was a troubling misregistration between video and audio, but that might have been something on my system].

[@francishandel6076]

1:01:51 jehova crowned with glory 😊and he comes ❤

[@valtergilenardi2639]

Jehowah Benedice grandemente chi aiuta e Ama il prossimo come faccio io. 😊 Ha promesso che non abbandonerà mai un Giusto e che lo sosterrà con il suo Santo Spirito. SEMBREREBBE PROPRIO COSI' Alleluiah 🙌😊❤

[@gustavs9]

super perfrormance

[@infinite.cables07]

1:20:54 if it wasn’t for a slight mishap 😬

[@a1b2y25z26]

I think Mainwaring commented that Handel usually had a 1 : 1 ratio as between instruments and voices. That almost seems to be the case here. The result here is a kind of sustained excellence - purity,clarity,definition and wonderful impact.

[@bigfan2710]

Esther was written when Handel was employed by the Duke of Chandos who had a small orchestra at his home, Cannon, hence the modest forces and orchestration. Nice performance.

[@Chompchompyerded]

Early on he did, but later he took the Cecil B. Demille "cast of thousands" approach. In general he used the forces available to him, otherwise limited only by how many subscriptions he sold and the space available. One good example of this would be the works he wrote during his time at Cannons. there were no violas there, and therefore none of the works he wrote there had a viola part, including the famed Chandos Anthems. We are very fortunate in that many of his pay ledgers are extant. It is fascinating to read the ledgers for revivals and compare them. The forces can vary quite a bit even for the same work. Take for example Messiah. The Dublin premiere falls in the middle with two desks of first violins, 2 desks of second violins, one desk of violas, 2 desks celli, one double bass, two oboes, two trumpets, one bassoon, and organ from which Handel conducted. Due to a lack of space, the Foundling Hospital version had the smallest number with only one per part. The second London revival was a monster with double the number of instruments of the Dublin premiere and adding a harpsichord and theorbo to the continuo.

[@primeralineaeteeerna3098]

17:35 1:01:25

[@DaveO1310]

Favorite parts at 26:30, 34:10

[@ArsLyricaHouston]

We love those lush suspensions, too.

[@TAESONG15]

핸델 주님께서 이스라엘을 구한 에스더를 남기셨습니다. 한국 핸델교 교인들 모두 핸델 주님의 경건한 선율에 감읍하면서 하나님이 주신 작품을 느껴 봅니다. 핸델 주님이시여 에스더 처럼 영원히 한국인들에게 추앙 받으실 것입니다.

[@lj291261]

Overture too fast!

[@DarryanDhanpat]

*cough*

[@komagene]

55:07 55:12

[@StefanHabischKomponist]

God Voices but to FAST played.