Handel’s Solomon opens 2023 Season

Bath Recitals is thrilled to announce the opening concert in Bath Abbey of its 2023 Season with a semi-staged performance of Handel’s great oratorio: Solomon on 22 April…

This is probably the first professional performance of Solomon in Bath since the eighteenth century. The Georgian Festival Chorale and St. Woolos Sinfonia will present this atmospheric performance directed by Daniel Robert Cushing. It will also feature countertenor Neil Moore as Solomon and soprano Emilie Parry-Williams as both Solomon’s Queen and The Queen of Sheba.

Famed for his Italian operas, Handel virtually abandoned this genre after 1741. Instead he focused on oratorios in English of which Solomon was the first. It was a huge success and set the scene for a string of oratorio masterpieces.

Central to the work is the famous biblical story of The Judgement of Solomon in which two harlots each claim a single baby as their own. Particularly memorable is the opening to Act III with The Arrival of the Queen of Sheba.

Also coming up in 2023

The splendour of some of the finest music from the Baroque and Classical ages will be captured in a season of four concerts across 2023. Here’s what Bath Recitals have in store…

Georgian Gala

26 August 2023
The Georgian Festival Chorale & Orchestra

The spirit of the Georgian age returns to Bath with this 18th century gala concert of music by some of the great composers of the period…

Classical Greats

21 October 2023
Brandon Hill Chamber Orchestra
Ignas Maknickas piano

This autumn concert features one of Mozart’s most enchanting Piano Concertos and Haydn’s sixth symphony Le Matin…

Carolean Christmas

20 December 2023
The Carolean Consort and Soloists

This Christmas themed concert will include some beautiful, seasonal Baroque music from 17th century Germany…