B’Rock and BachPlus. This sounds like a perfect match: figuratively, but especially literally. Bart Naessens previously appeared with B’Rock in the poetic dance production Mea Culpa and a contemporary reading of Purcell’s Dido and Aeneas; now this scion of the B’Rock family leads the choir and orchestra with unwavering drive through Handel’s indestructible Judas Maccabaeus.
You needn’t look far to learn why the work is one of Handel’s most acclaimed oratorios and strikes the right note time and time again. The impressive overture already contains all the ingredients that characterise the work as a whole and contribute to its success: pointed rhythms, expressive melodies and dramatic harmonies. Handel also shows his best side in the subsequent choirs, arias and duets. With clever alternations between minor and major, musical word paintings and the perfect balance between modesty and exuberance, he creates an unprecedentedly rich composition that keeps you glued to each note.
Add to all that the energetic, triumphant story of Old Testament revolutionary Judas Maccabaeus, and you get the picture: this oratorio is one for eternity. Thus indestructible.
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This production was realized with the support of the Tax Shelter measure of the Belgian Federal Government through Flanders Tax Shelter
