The story of Jephtha is, as the Handel scholar Ruth Smith points out, taken from the oldest account of the fight for possession of land in the Middle East. While that adds more than a frisson in the light of recent events, Oliver Mears’ new production at the Royal Opera House was conceived long before the present conflict and wisely makes no reference to it.
It’s nevertheless a powerful indictment of religious zealotry and the murderous evils that stem from it. The biblical story tells of the Israelite leader whose hubris causes him to vow to sacrifice the first living thing he sees on returning home, should he be granted victory. As in the Greek legend of Iphigenia (referenced by Handel’s librettist Thomas Morell), it’s the hero’s daughter who has to pay the price.
