Handel: Esther – review

Blaze/Brook/Gilchrist/Hamilton/Hobbs/Lochhead/Mulroy/Dunedin Consort/ButtLinn (2 CDs)Esther is well known to have been the first of Handel's English oratorios, but exactly when it was first heard, and in what form, remains uncertain. The first version, which probably dates from 1718 and may have been performed as a masque, is effectively lost, and Handel made a total revision and expansion of the score in 1732. But John Butt and his Dunedin Consort perform what they call the "first reconstructa...

Read full article Share article