Judas Maccabaeus

For over a week now Edinburgh has been en fete – full to bursting point with visitors, performers, shows. So it was almost a surprise to attend the International Festival opening concert this weekend and realize that this formal counterpoint to the Fringe, the official Festival, is only now starting its three week run of over 180 performances. In this Year of Homecoming all Macs are welcome, and no exception was “Judas Maccabaeus” at the Usher Hall on Friday evening, in spite of the criticism and disapproval that had greeted this choice of work. The biblical story stands without controversy. It is the underlying political interpretation after the Battle of Culloden that makes this work unpopular with some Scots.
Handel’s oratorio is a splendid, rousing work, which rises above its immediate political undertones to provide wider, more universal themes: a nation embattled against a more powerful aggressor, the need for national unity, the need for strong leadership, the trust that faith in God and religious observance will bring blessing on one‘s nation. These were the attitudes of Handel’s age, and are the framework of the oratorio. For over 3 hours we were simply caught up with the music, entranced by the singing. With William Christie conducting the Scottish Chamber Orchestra, the Edinburgh Festival Chorus under chorus master Christopher Bell was magnificent, and Rosemary Joshua (soprano) and Sarah Connolly (mezzo-soprano) were sublime. It was good to see the refurbished Usher Hall open for business once more, and it was amazing to see Jonathan Mills wearing what looked like a flimsy Festival programme on his leg (a bad time to have a broken ankle, but an imaginative decoration of his splint). The whole occasion was a very enjoyable opening to the Enlightenment Festival, and a concert that deserved its standing ovation.