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The Israel Stage Orchestra is celebrating Hanukkah this year with three special performances of one of George Frideric Handel’s most popular oratorios, Judas Maccabaeus. The oratorio, originally composed in honour of the victorious English army in 1746, had had since many reprises, including a Hebrew translation to the choral rendering of Act three (“Thine be the Glory"). Aharon Ashman translated the words on the occasion of the 1932 Maccabiah Games, and since then it has become an Israeli classic Hanukkah song (“Hava Narima”).
The oratorio Judas Maccabaeus was written in only thirty-two days, between July 9 and August 11, 1746, upon the commission of Frederic, Prince of Wales, to celebrate the return of the Duke of Cumberland from Scotland after the decisive victory of Culloden.
The words were taken from the narrative of the exploits of the Jewish deliverer contained in the first book of Maccabees and in the twelfth book of Josephus' "Antiquities of the Jews." It was first performed at Covent Garden, April 1, 1747. The characters represented are Judas Maccabaeus; Simon, his brother; an Israelite messenger; and Israelite men and women. The oratorio was written five year after Messiah, when Handel was 61. It relates to the period 170-160BC when Judea was under occupation by the Seleucids, and tells the story of the Maccabee rebel.
The Israel Stage Orchestra will host the Upper Galilee Choir, conducted by Ron Zarchi. Founded in 1992 by Mike Levine and Roni Porat, the Orchestra is now an integral part of the Yad Harif Regional Centre for the Arts. The Orchestra appears regularly at the Abu Gosh music festival and has created original concert / theatre works, commissioned by the Israel Festival. The orchestra works exclusively with Israeli soloists.
The Upper Galilee Choir was established in 1978 by Stanley Sperber and under his direction, a year later, performed Mendelssohn’s Oratorio “Elijah” at the Musica Sacra Festival in Jerusalem. The choir has performed with the Israeli Broadcasting Authority Symphony, the Haifa Symphony, The Carmel Baroque Orchestra, the Yad Harif Orchestra, the Raanana Symphonette Orchestra, and various other instrumental ensembles from Israel and abroad.
The members of the choir, numbering 45-50, hail from all over the Upper Galilee and the Golan Heights, and Ron Zarchi has served as the choir's conductor since 1985. Born in Kibbutz Ginegar, Zarchi has conducted for the last few years vocal music from the Baroque and Renaissance periods. He is a graduate of the Rubin Music Academy of Tel Aviv.
Judas Maccabaeus – Oratorio by George Frideric Handel
The Israel Stage Orchestra
The Upper Galilee Choir
Conductor: Ron Zarchi
Music Director: Talia Ilan
Soprano: Anat Edri, Mezzo-Soprano: Shira Tal, Tenor: Iddo Ben-Gal, Bass-Baritone: Yaacov Bash/Yair Polishuk
Performances: Saturday November 27th at 21:00, Tel Aviv Museum of Art (+972-3-6077070); Friday December 3rd at 21:00, Beit Haam Kibbutz Kfar Blum (+972-4-6816640); Tuesday December 7th at 20:30, Einan Hall Azrieli Mall Modiin (+972-8-9737330)
See here a list of compositions by George Frideric Handel, including those based on biblical themes. And see here a video clip about Handel's Messiah.
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Read more about the Bible on stage
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