You can hardly cast a stone in Washington without hitting a politician with an unearned messiah complex, but soon, Rep. Jamie Raskin will have good reason to compare himself with the Messiah … by George Frideric Handel.
On Saturday, Washington Musica Viva will perform “The Jamie Raskin Oratorio,” a composition adapted from the Maryland Democrat’s memoir.
Raskin, who is Jewish and also describes himself as a humanist, may seem like an odd choice to inspire a musical work so deeply embedded in the Christian tradition. But Anne Becker, the poet who wrote the work along with composer Noam Faingold, said it’s fitting, given the “spiritual aspect” of his book, which describes his son’s suicide, the storming of the Capitol a week later and his subsequent role managing the second impeachment of Donald Trump.
