A triumphant Esther from Cummings at London Handel Festival

Esther at London Handel Festival

By Nick Boston, 15 March 2024

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“it is the dazzling variety of Handel’s music that lifts this work to crowd-pleasing heights”

Reviewed at St George's, Hanover Square, London on 14 March 2024

Handel, Esther, HWV 50a

Nardus Williams, Soprano

Rachel Redmond, Soprano

Tim Mead, Countertenor

Jess Dandy, Contralto

Florian Störtz, Bass

London Handel Orchestra

London Handel Singers

Laurence Cummings, Conductor

La Resurrezione brings London Handel Festival to an uplifting close

Nahoko Gotoh, 18th April

On Easter Monday, this year's London Handel Festival came to a close with Handel's youthful oratorio La Resurrezione in the suitably Baroque setting of London's St Martin-in-the-Fields.

****1

Messiah: Reimagined at St George’s, Hanover Square... but not too much

Sandra Bowdler, 5th April

Handel’s Messiah is not too re-imagined, thankfully, with an almost Crystal Palace sized choir although not all singing at once!

****1

JPYA make a decent fist of Handel's Susanna in the Linbury Theatre

Mark Valencia, 5th March

The evening’s most unbuttoned applause was reserved for two native anglophone artists, countertenor Patrick Terry and bass-baritone Michael Mofidian.

***11

Berenice at the Linbury: Handel meets Gilbert and Sullivan

David Karlin, 27th March

Visual eye candy, excellent singing and superb Handelian playing by Laurence Cummings and the London Handel Orchestra are marred by poor diction and limited acting expressivity.

***11

Ariodante at the RCM: in which technique is not enough

David Karlin, 8th March

An impressive display of singing technique isn't enough to make RCM's Ariodante connect with hearts and minds.

**111

Lost in the woods: Handel's Giove in Argo

Charlotte Valori, 23rd March

A reconstruction of a long-lost opera by Handel gives some exciting young singers the chance to shine at the London Handel Festival, even if the plot might be better back in the mists of obscurity.

***11

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Nick Boston

Nick has an MA in Music, specialising in performance and repertoire. His particular passions are choral music, chamber music and opera, with a particular interest in early music. He sings in a number of choirs in the south east of England, plays the piano and occasionally dusts off the violin. He writes about music here.

A triumphant Esther from Cummings at the London Handel Festival's Spring Awakenings