There are two more opportunities to witness London Handel Festival's bold new production In the Realms of Sorrow, playing at Stone Nest in London's West End until Friday March 3rd.
Led by harpsichordist Laurence Cummings, the one-to-a-part orchestra was all grit, and even the more lyrical lines were extravagantly shaped. Werner’s musical “dissolves” at the start and end of each cantata were breathtaking: unfamiliar harmonies spooled out of a Handelian cadence; the double bass became a percussion instrument amid guttural squawks from the oboes. Flora Willson, The Guardian
"Reuniting award-winning director Adele Thomas and LHF Music Director Laurence Cummings, In the Realms of Sorrow is a rare opportunity to see staged performances of four of Handel’s most soul-searching cantatas.
Fusing exquisite singing and dance theatre, In the Realms of Sorrow is a fascinating insight into young Handel’s early capacity for depicting the complexity of the human soul. Seen together, the four cantatas create a raw and alluring journey into love, obsession, delusion and ecstasy.
Featuring brand new music by acclaimed composer Héloïse Werner, In the Realms of Sorrow promises to be one of the most extraordinary events the London Handel Festival has ever staged, performed at the atmospheric Stone Nest"
