• Philippa Hyde soprano
• Claire Tomlin soprano
• Timothy Travers-Brown countertenor
• Patrick McCarthy tenor
• Michael Bundy bass
• Psalmody
• Essex Baroque Orchestra
• directed by Peter Holman

Handel wrote the first version of Esther in 1718, while he was working for the Duke of Chandos at Canons near Edgware. As Handel’s first English oratorio, and the prototype for later and better-known works, its historical importance has long been recognised, though it is rarely performed, particularly in its intimate original version. The text, an adaptation of a play by Racine variously attributed to Alexander Pope, Dr John Arbuthnot, John Gay and Jonathan Swift, deals with the exile of the Jews in Persia, and Esther’s role in preventing their persecution. It inspired Handel to write a work of consistently high quality, with sonorous choruses and affecting solos.