Set in ancient Thessaly, Admeto is a tale of sacrifice, desire and love twisted into a triangle. A king saved from certain death, a queen who pays for it with her life, and arival who seizes the chance to take her place.

Premiered 300 years ago and fuelled by the notorious rivalry between Handel’s two reigning sopranos, Cuzzoni and Bordoni, Admeto was an overnight hit. The English Concert will present this rare concert performance at the church where Handel himself worshipped.

Beth Taylor returns to The English Concert in the title role, after a Cornelia in our five-star Giulio Cesare sung “with velvety power that alternated with touching frailty” (The Times). She is joined by Emy Gazeilles as Antigona, James Atkinson as Ercole and Amy Holyland as Orindo, with the project directed by Harry Bicket.

The story reaches Handel from Euripides, whose Alcestis was written for a city’s festival: Athens’ great drama event of 438 BC, in the slot that normally held a comic satyr play, which may be why this tragedy ends with her given back alive. Two and a half millennia on, it returns in this form to another great city’s festival.