Just a year after his triumphant The Seasons, not to mention the award-winning Marriage of Figaro, René Jacobs returns to the oratorio genre at the head of a phenomenal cast. His acclaimed Così fan tutte will be reissued at mid price next month on the harmonia mundi Mozart Edition. The oratorio Saul was composed in the summer of 1738, first performed on 16th January 1739 at the King´s Theatre in London and was regularly revived during the composer´s lifetime. The celebrated Dead March, probably ensured that it was one of the few Handel oratorios to escape the oblivion that largely overtook his large-scale choral compositions, with the exception of Messiah. Although oratorios are not intended to be staged, Handel´s Saul is something of an exception, for one thing, it contains extremely precise stage directions which were printed and distributed at performances. Hence audiences at the first English oratorios, aided by Handel´s dazzling musical depiction of the action, could see Goliath´s gigantic strides, the course of the Jordan, or Saul throwing his javelin. In choosing to build their work around this biblical character, comparable to the great Shakespearian tragic figures, Handeland his librettist ensured its perennial success.