La resurrezione

La resurrezione
Oratorio by George Frideric Handel
Händel c. 1710
EnglishThe Resurrection
CatalogueHWV 47
Year1708 (1708)
Textby Carlo Sigismondo Capece
LanguageItalian
Performed8 April 1708 (1708-04-08): Rome Ruspoli Palace
Scoring
  • 5 soloists
  • choir
  • orchestra

La resurrezione (The Resurrection), HWV 47, is an oratorio by George Frideric Handel, set to a libretto by Carlo Sigismondo Capece (1652–1728). Capece was court poet to Queen Marie Casimire of Poland, who was living in exile in Rome. It was first performed on Easter Sunday, 8 April 1708 at Rome, with the backing of the Marchese Francesco Ruspoli, Handel's patron at this time. The work details the events between — and during — Good Friday and Easter Sunday, with the action carried forward in recitative, and exploration of character and delineation of mood taking place in the arias. The characters of the liturgical drama that appear in the oratorio are Lucifer (bass), Mary Magdalene (soprano), an angel (soprano), John the Evangelist (tenor), and Mary Cleophas (alto).