Words of Wisdom

In the second act of this work, two prostitutes petition a biblical king in a child custody dispute. The wise king saves the day with a crafty solution. This oratorio was the first of two that the composer wrote to be performed during the same London theatrical season. But these works could hardly have been more different! While the one we are hearing celebrates and idealizes the virtue of wisdom, the other, with its story of cuckoldry and forgiveness, is more like a biblical comic opera…