# Religious Operas/Oratorios



## Jobis

I'm looking for recommendations, along the lines of Messiaen's Saint Francois and Schoenberg's Moses und Aron, of operas with overt religious themes; though not limited to the modernist genres! Rather, operas of any era that capture a similar tone and mystical representation of God. Hopefully that is not too specific. :lol:

Also, does anyone know where I can find a recording of the late John Tavener's opera _Therese_?


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## Aramis

Rossini's two Moses operas and Donizetti's _Poliuto_ are three representants of the subject inside bel canto. I'm not greatest fan of the Moseses, but they do have some strong highlights. So does opera by Donizetti.

(also, Rossini's _Comte Ory_ is about pious group of nuns)


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## ArtMusic

Handel's The Messiah.


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## quack

Hans Pfitzner - _Palestrina_
Peter Maxwell Davies - _Taverner_
Kari Tikka - _Luther_
Francis Poulenc - _Dialogues of the Carmelites_
Giacomo Puccini - _Suor Angelica_
Krzysztof Penderecki - _The Devils of Loudun_, _Paradise Lost_
Paul Hindemith - _Sancta Susanna_
Rued Langgaard - _Antikrist_
Arrigo Boito - _Mefistofele_
Ferruccio Busoni - _Doktor Faust_
Alfred Schnittke - _Historia von D. Johann Fausten_
Charles Gounod - _Faust_
Fromental Halévy - _Noé (Noah)_, and maybe: _Le Juif errant (The Wandering Jew)_, _La Juive (The Jewess)_
Anton Rubinstein - _Christus_
Ralph Vaughan Williams - _The Pilgrim's Progress_

It depends a lot on what you regard as religious. If they are merely biography with a religious element such as _Palestrina_ or dramas that simply take Greek _Orfeo ed Euridice_ and biblical _Nabucco_ characters.


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## Oreb

Jobis said:


> … operas of any era that capture a similar tone and mystical representation of God….
> Also, does anyone know where I can find a recording of the late John Tavener's opera _Therese_?


Well in terms of tone and mystical representations *Parsifal* is an obvious pick.

I'm not familiar at all with Therese, but his opera _*Mary of Egypt*_ was recorded and released on the now defunct Collins Classics label.


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## Rocco

ArtMusic said:


> Handel's The Messiah.


Handel's Messiah tops the list. Others to check out would be Handel's Chandos Anthems and Handel's Chapel Royal.


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## TxllxT

Dialogues des Carmélites (1956) by Francis Poulenc










This 1958 recording has the best voices; not many operas are able to make me shed tears.


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## Bas

What about Haydn's Schopfung, and Vivaldi's Juditha Triumphans?


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## HaydnBearstheClock

Bas said:


> What about Haydn's Schopfung, and Vivaldi's Juditha Triumphans?


Also Haydn's oratorios The Seasons and Il ritorno di Tobia.


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## brotagonist

Schoenberg wrote quite a lot of religious music. Die Jakobsleiter comes to mind immediately (as it just ended about 5 minutes ago), as well as Moses und Aron (not about God, per se, but a biblical story).


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## deggial

Handel's Theodora, about the eponymous Christian martyr.


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## MagneticGhost

As you seem more drawn to modern music - I recommend Peter Maxwell-Davies - Job


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## Rapide

Verdi wrote a few with religious theme. Say _Nabucco_


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## drpraetorus

Here is a more obscure Wagner work "Liebesmahl der Apostel"


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## messadivoce

I don't know much but if you're into Easter (since it's coming up soon) there is Bach's Easter Oratorio.


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## SixFootScowl

Well, I am surprised that Wagner's Tannhauser was not mentioned in this thread.

Putting oratorios aside for now, as there are many religious oratorios, and focusing on opera and narrowing down to Christianity, the two that really stand out to me are Tannhauser and Poulenc's Dialogues of the Carmelites.


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## Rogerx

Handel: Athali a/ Judas Maccabaeus, HWV 63/ Joshua, HWV 64
from the top of my head.


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## gvn

SixFootScowl said:


> Well, I am surprised that Wagner's Tannhauser was not mentioned in this thread.


My thought precisely. I've always been mystified that Jon Vickers reputedly objected to _Tannhäuser_ on religious/moral grounds. Vickers was a wonderful Parsifal (no one on record communicated the fine nuances of the role better, few if any as well), and I would have thought anyone who could appreciate _Parsifal_ would appreciate _Tannhäuser_. Perhaps he was put off by inept stagings of the Venusberg scene?

Some other options not already mentioned:

Weber, _Der Freischütz_
Verdi, _Stiffelio_
Gounod, _Polyeucte_
Massenet, _Thaïs_
Rimsky-Korsakov, _The Legend of the Invisible City of Kitezh_
Boito, _Nerone_
Stravinsky, _The Rake's Progress_
Pizzetti, _L'Assassinio nella cattedrale_
Britten, _Noye's Fludde_
Britten, _The Burning Fiery Furnace_

All of the above are great favorites of my wife & myself--we never revisit any acceptable performance of any of them without deriving both great musical pleasure & a feeling of spiritual enrichment. (Of course, staging & style of performance can make a tremendous difference, for good or ill!)

Like 6FtScowl, I confine my list to opera. If I were to add oratorios, there would be no limit to the list. _All_ of Handel's true oratorios, for a start!

Afterthought: I nearly forgot Tchaikovsky's _Iolanta_, in its original uncensored form. (During the Soviet era, the work was systematically gutted of all its religious content--all the praise of the greatness of God turned into praise of the greatness of Light, etc!)

Have no doubt also forgotten some other very special favorites. Should _Don Giovanni_ be mentioned? (Again, probably depends on the staging!) And _Boris Godunov_ has very explicitly religious resonances indeed in the recent Sofia Cathedral staging on DVD.


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## elgar's ghost

I don't know if the thread-starter is still about but as I am currently listening to Elgar three of his works come to mind as they are based on various events from the New Testament gospels:

_The Light of Life_ op.29
_The Apostles_ op.49
_The Kingdom_ op.51

The last two were the first two parts of an intended trilogy but Elgar didn't get as far as the third work, which was allegedly to have been based on the Last Judgement. _The Light of Life_ (after the story of the blind man from _The Gospel of St. John_) isn't connected but does come over as a kind of introductory work when put in context.

_The Dream of Gerontius_ op.38 can also be included but this not so much a biblical work as the setting of a poem depicting the journey of a dead man's soul and its eventual judgement.


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## gvn

Some of our favorite oratorios (arranged roughly in order of subject matter!):

Haydn, _Die Schöpfung_ = _The Creation_ (German & English versions)
Massenet, _Ève_
Saint-Saëns, _Le Déluge_
Pizzetti, _La sacra rappresentazione d'Abram e d'Isaac_
Mayr, _Iacob a Labano fugiens_
Handel, _Joseph and His Brethren_
Handel, _Israel in Egypt_
C. P. E. Bach, _Die Israeliten in der Wüste_
Massenet, _La Terre promise_
Handel, _Joshua_
Handel, _Deborah_
Mayr, _Sisara_
Handel (arr. Smith), _Gideon_
Handel, _Jephtha_
Mayr, _Il sacrifizio di Jefte_
Handel, _Samson_
Mayr, _Samuele_
Handel, _Saul_
Mayr, _David in spelunca Engaddi_
Handel (arr. Smith), _Nabal_
Honegger, _Le Roi David_
Handel, _Solomon_
Mendelssohn, _Elijah_
Handel, _Athalia_
Mayr, _Gioas_
Parry, _Judith_
Alessandro Scarlatti, _Sedecia re di Gerusalemma_
Handel, _Susanna_
Handel, _Belshazzar_
Spohr, _Der Fall Babylons_
Walton, _Belshazzar's Feast_
Handel, _Esther_
Vivaldi, _Juditha triumphans_
Jommelli, _La Betulia liberata_
Mozart, _La Betulia liberata_
Handel, _Judas Maccabaeus_
Handel, _Alexander Balus_
Handel, _Messiah_
Liszt, _Christus_
Draeseke, _Christus_
J. S. Bach, _Weinachtsoratorium_
Saint-Saëns, _Oratorio de Noël_
J. C. F. Bach, _Die Kindheit Jesu_
Berlioz, _L'Enfance du Christ_
Sullivan, _The Light of the World_
Franck, _Les Béatitudes_
Elgar, _The Light of Life_
Elgar, _The Apostles_
Sullivan, _The Prodigal Son_
Messiaen, _La Transfiguration de Notre Seigneur Jésus-Christ_ 
J. C. F. Bach, _Die Auferweckung Lazarus_
Beethoven, _Christus am Ölberge_
Jommelli, _La Passione di NS Gesù Cristo_
Paisiello, _La Passione di Gesù Cristo_
J. S. Bach, _Matthäus-Passion_
Telemann, _Matthäus-Passion_ 1730
Telemann, _Matthäus-Passion_ 1746
Telemann, _Markus-Passion_ 1759
Telemann, _Lukas-Passion_ 1728
Telemann, _Lukas-Passion_ 1748
Penderecki, _St. Luke Passion_
Alessandro Scarlatti, _Passio secundum Ioannem_
J. S. Bach, _Johannes-Passion_
Telemann, _Johannes-Passion_ 1745
Pärt, _Passio_
Liszt, _Via crucis_
Telemann, _Der Tod Jesu_
Telemann, _Seliges Erwächen_
C. P. E. Bach, _Die letzen Leiden des Erlösers_
Frank Martin, _Golgotha_
Telemann, _Die Aufterstehung_ TWV 6:7
Telemann, _Die Aufterstehung und Himmelfahrt Jesu_ TWV 6:6
C. P. E. Bach, _Die Aufterstehung und Himmelfahrt Jesu_
Elgar, _The Kingdom_
Mendelssohn, _Paulus_
Handel, _Theodora_
Sullivan, _The Martyr of Antioch_
Honegger, _Jeanne d'Arc au bûcher_
Schmidt, _Das Buch mit sieben Siegeln_
Telemann, _Der Tag des Gerichts_
Spohr, _Die letzten Dinge_
Vaughan Williams, _Sancta civitas_

Not far from a complete history of the world there!


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## SixFootScowl

gvn said:


> Not far from a complete history of the world there!


That is an amazing list. I doubt I have any oratorios not on your list. I probably have a dozen at most.


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## Handelian

Handel of course was the past master at oratorios. But he wasn't the first. Carassimi wrote them on the theme of Jeptha and Jonah. I remember Jepte as my better half sang in it when we were a lot younger! 
Handel's first was Esther which he later revised having found out it was being performed without his permission as he was by then turning his attention to oratorios rather than Italian operas.
Others include:
Joseph and His Brethren
Israel in Egypt
Samson
Saul
Solomon
Athalia
Susanna
Belshazzar
Judas Maccabaeus
Alexander Balus
Messiah
Theodora

Of course you can include works like the St Cecilia Ode which sings 'the great Creator's praise' and other works like 'Zadok the Priest'


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## RICK RIEKERT

Handelian's mention of Carissimi brings to mind another great master of the Baroque oratorio, Marc-Antoine Charpentier. Charpentier wrote over 40 oratorios, mostly on biblical themes. On one occasion, however, he tried his hand at dramatizing a more recent event: _Pestis Mediolanesis_ ("The Plague of MIlan"), the story of that city's 1574-76 bout with bubonic plague and the efforts of Milan's archbishop, Charles Borromeo, who was in the vanguard of those desperately trying to stem its ravages and alleviate its tragic effects. The archbishop was a prudent practitioner of social distancing. According to his biographer, when ministering to the sick, Borromeo carried a stick setting a boundary around his person, "to keep those in the contagion's snare away from himself and his assistants." Charpentier's goal in writing the oratorio was to exhort his listeners to emulate Borromeo's example of sacrificial charity.


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## gvn

Yes, I'm not sure why I don't listen to Charpentier's and Carissimi's oratorios as often as the ones I listed earlier. I admire them both immensely, particularly Charpentier.

I think it's because they're such an awkward length (usually about 20 mins).

When we sit down to an oratorio by Handel or CPEB or Telemann or Mayr, we know we'll be occupied for the whole evening. But when we've finished playing one by Charpentier or Carissimi, what do we do next? Let the disc run on and listen to another oratorio straight afterwards? Tried that, but not happy with it. When I've just lived through the whole story of (e.g.) Saul, I don't particularly want to live through the story of Jephthah or Mary Magdalene straight afterwards. It feels like listening to _Aida_ straight after _Otello_, or Shakespeare's _Lear_ straight after his _Hamlet_.

Maybe what we should do afterwards is listen to non-vocal music of similar period and seriousness. Corelli sonatas or concertos, perhaps.


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## CnC Bartok

Three operas by Czech composers really ought to get a mention too:

Martinu: The Greek Passion
Martinu: The Miracle of our Lady
Eben: Jeremiah

I saw the premiere of the latter in Prague many moons ago. It was a wonderful experience, and an immensely appealing work. Unfortunately, nobody has bothered to make a commercial recording of it as yet.....

The Martinu works are less literally biblical, the Miracle operas being a cycle of four short works on a "Mary miracle" theme, and the Greek Passion about the characters in a passion play taking on the characters of their characters (!). But I think biblical enough to warrant inclusion.


And has anyone beyond gvn got round to mentioning Beethoven and his Christ on the Mount of Olives? No it's not his greatest work, but it really isn't bad in the slightest.


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## starthrower

I'm currently listening to Messiaen's Saint Francois d' Assise


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## Desertpilot

I'd like to add a couple oratorios to the list.

... Elgar: Sea Pictures, The Dream of Gerontius, Sir Andrew Davis Conductor, Chandos CHSA 5140 (2 SACD discs), release date 2014. download available in 5.0 surround. HR Audio writes: "This outstanding release is, without doubt, the finest recording of 'The Dream of Gerontius' to have appeared on SACD..." I concur, the vocals are absolutely stunning.

...Honegger: Jeanne d'Arc au bûcher, Stéphane Denève (conductor), Rco Live Holland, release date 2019. Download available in hirez stereo or purchase the SACD for multichannel surround. The reviews of this work are impressive: Gramophone "...for an audio-only Jeanne d’Arc, look no further." Erik Voermans, Parool “Unforgettable Jeanne d’Arc.” Martin Toet, Place de l’Opera “Rare inspiration in Honeggers Jeanne.” I've listened to this recording several times and agree, it is a thrilling recording.

Marcus
Las Vegas, NV


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## Coach G

Religious Works in a Concordance with the Bible:

Genesis: Haydn's _Creation_; Stravinsky's _The Flood_; Stravinsky's _Abraham and Isaac_
Exodus: Handel's_ Israel in Egypt_; Schoenberg's _Moses and Aron_
Joshua: Handel's _Joshua_
Judges: St. Seans' _Sampson and Delilah_
1 Samuel: Handel's _Saul_; Nielsen's _Saul and David_
1 Kings: Mendelssohn's _Elijah_
2 Kings, Jeremiah, Lamentations and Daniel; Verdi's _Nabucco_
Psalms: Stravinsky's _Symphony of the Psalms_; Bernstein's _Chinchester Psalms_
Jeremiah: Bernstein's _Symphony #1 "Jeremiah" _
Job: Vaughan Williams' _Job_
Matthew: Berlioz' _L'enfance du Christ_; Bach's _St. Matthew Passion_
John: Bach's _St. John Passion_
Matthew, Mark, Luke & John; Beethoven's _Christ on the Mount of Olives_; Haydn's _Seven Last words of Christ_: Handel's _Messiah_ (although lyrics are taken mostly from Isaiah); Gibbon's _This is a Record of John_
Revelations: Messiaen's _Quartet for the end of Time_

There are more.


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## SixFootScowl

Desertpilot said:


> I'd like to add a couple oratorios to the list.
> 
> ... Elgar: Sea Pictures, The Dream of Gerontius, Sir Andrew Davis Conductor, Chandos CHSA 5140 (2 SACD discs), release date 2014. download available in 5.0 surround. HR Audio writes: "This outstanding release is, without doubt, the finest recording of 'The Dream of Gerontius' to have appeared on SACD..." I concur, the vocals are absolutely stunning.
> 
> ...Honegger: Jeanne d'Arc au bûcher, Stéphane Denève (conductor), Rco Live Holland, release date 2019. Download available in hirez stereo or purchase the SACD for multichannel surround. The reviews of this work are impressive: Gramophone "...for an audio-only Jeanne d'Arc, look no further." Erik Voermans, Parool "Unforgettable Jeanne d'Arc." Martin Toet, Place de l'Opera "Rare inspiration in Honeggers Jeanne." I've listened to this recording several times and agree, it is a thrilling recording.
> 
> Marcus
> Las Vegas, NV


Ah nice. Joan of Arc. A worthy subject.


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