Peter Sellar’s production of Handel’s Theodora has long been one of my favourite video recordings of opera. It’s brilliant in so many ways and I don’t think I’ve ever made it through the whole thing without tearing up. It’s now been remastered from the original tape and reissued on Blu-ray. The video and sound quality are distinctly better than previous DVD releases though not, inevitably, in the same class as the best modern recordings. It’s also still a depressingly bare bones release with no extras and minimal documentation but don’t let that put you off.
My original review is here. I thought about rewriting it but for the most part I stand by my original comments. The only judgement I’d change is that, on greater experience, I do think this is one of Handel’s best works.
