A semi-staged performance by Northern Aldborough Festival Opera Theodora: Fflur Wyn (Soprano) Irene: Helen Charlston (mezzo-soprano) Didymus: Lawrence Zazzo (countertenor) Septimius: Benjamin Hulett (tenor) Valens: Henry Waddington (bass baritone) Sounds Baroque conducted by Julian Perkins Stage Director: Joe AustinThe Northern Aldborough Festival is proud to present Handel’s penultimate oratorio.Love transcends political tyranny in Handel’s intensely dramatic Theodora. Persecuted for her religious beliefs, Theodore’s virtue inspires the devotion of one of her oppressors.Recently acknowledged as one of Handel's greatest masterpieces, it features his most transcendental and inspired music. Staged as an opera, most memorably in Peter Sellars’ critically lauded production for Glyndebourne in 1996, this performance features a stellar line-up of soloists, chorus and orchestra, under the baton of Baroque specialist Julian Perkins.Stage director is Joe Austin, who has directed productions at the Royal Opera House, Opera North and the first production in Nevill Holt's new opera house, Le Nozze di Figaro.Our most ambitious production to date, it’s not to be missed.