''Ester, liberatrice del popolo ebreo'' (''

Esther Esther (; ), originally Hadassah (; ), is the eponymous heroine of the Book of Esther in the Hebrew Bible. According to the biblical narrative, which is set in the Achaemenid Empire, the Persian king Ahasuerus falls in love with Esther and ma ...

, Liberator of the Jewish People'') is a 1673 Italian-language

oratorio An oratorio () is a musical composition with dramatic or narrative text for choir, soloists and orchestra or other ensemble. Similar to opera, an oratorio includes the use of a choir, soloists, an instrumental ensemble, various distinguisha ...

Alessandro Stradella Antonio Alessandro Boncompagno Stradella (Bologna, 3 July 1643 – Genoa, 25 February 1682) was an Italian composer of the middle Baroque period. He enjoyed a dazzling career as a freelance composer, writing on commission, and collaborating with ...

. The only surviving manuscript lacks the original

ritornello A ritornello (Italian; "little return") is a recurring passage in Renaissance music and Baroque music for orchestra or chorus. Early history The earliest use of the term "ritornello" in music referred to the final lines of a fourteenth-century ...

s and some closed numbers. It was performed in Corpus Christi Catholic Church, New York City, in 1985, and recorded by Italian early music group Il Concento, under Luca Franco Ferrari in 2001, later released on

Brilliant Classics Brilliant Classics is a classical music label based in the Dutch town of Leeuwarden. It is renowned for releasing super-budget-priced editions on CD of the complete works of J.S. Bach, Mozart, Beethoven and many other composers. The label also s ...

in 2012. The work was not performed again in New York City until 2019 and 2020, when it was produced and presented b
Salon Sanctuary Concerts
at Brotherhood Synagogue, garnering both scholarly and critical praise and for both outings. Navona Records released a complete CD of the oratorio in July 2024. The cast includes Jessica Gould, Sonia Tedla, José Lemos, Gabriele Lombardi, and Salvo Vitale, conducted by Jory Vinikour. Marketing a 2025 event as a Chicago première of the work, Haymarket Opera cut all the choruses and two principal roles, misrepresenting a deeply abridged version of Stradella's Ester to the Chicago public as the complete work.

Recordings

* Alessandro Stradella: ''Ester'' – Luca Franco Ferrari, conductor; Silvia Piccollo, Elisa Franzetti, Vicky Norrington, Riccardo Ristori, Matteo Armanino; Il Concerto Luca Franco Ferrari; 22–36 November 2001, Chiesa di San Lorenzo, Torbi di Ceranesi, Genova.

Cat: 94297 * Alessandro Stradella: ''Ester Liberatrice del Popolo Ebreo'' – Jory Vinikour, direction; Jessica Gould, Sonia Tedla, José Lemos, Gabriele Lombardi, Salvo Vitale; Camerata Grimani, recorded 2023 Scuola della Carità, Padova
Navona Records, Cat: NV6629

References

External links

* {{Portal bar, Classical music Oratorios Compositions by Alessandro Stradella 1673 oratorios