Royal Northern College of Music Opera will present Handel’s Theodora between March 24 and April 1 at the college.
Directed by John Ramster, it is the first time the RNCM has staged an oratorio.
Following its autumn offering of Offenbach’s colourful La Vie Parisienne (nominated for a Manchester Theatre Award), they turn to the darker side of life. Theodora is widely recognised as one of Handel’s great masterpieces and, while it is rarely performed, the work contains some of the composer’s most beautiful arias, duets and choruses.
The story, in English, recounts the tender love and eventual martyrdom of Theodora, a young Christian woman, and her Roman lover, Didymus.