Johann Mattheson (1681-1764) was a respected musical theorist and a friend of the young Handel in Hamburg. The two famously fought a duel after Handel refused to relinquish the harpsichord to Mattheson during a performance of the latter’s opera Cleopatra (1704). Between 1715 and 1727 Mattheson composed a series of 24 oratorios for Hamburg Cathedral, which were performed by singers borrowed from the Gänsemarkt Theatre (including, controversially, female sopranos). Der liebreiche und geduldige David (1723) was recently rediscovered amongst the materials lost during the Second World War but now restored to Hamburg. It is set during the elderly King David’s civil war with his estranged son Absalom, and climaxes with the king’s lament for his dead son. The libretto is predominantly meditative rather than dramatic, and functions as a Passion-like scheme of substantial recitatives (including some strongly accompanied by the orchestra), short bursts from the choir, plenty of imaginatively varied short arias designed to range in musical styles and moods, and a few chorales (including a charming setting of “Ein feste Burg” and a festive treatment of “Wie schön leuchtet der Morgenstern”).

American conductor Michael Alexander Willens and his Cologne Academy give a good account of the oratorio. The group of eight singers deliver both choral and solo passages to a good standard. Nicki Kennedy has a fairly fast vibrato but is in bright voice as the allegorical figure Meditatio; her rousing aria “Der Loder der Tugend” (with horns) is a highlight. Christian Hilz seems ill at ease with David’s demanding melismatic phrases, but does a noble job of the lament “Ach Absalom mein Sohn!” (accompanied only by a theorbo, as if to evoke David’s harp; one wonders if this was really Mattheson’s intention). The other soloists are less prominent but routinely efficient. This performance contains some vivid theatrical flourishes (such as the Vivaldian ritornello that opens Part 2). Two booklet-notes by different authors take a while to digest, but those keen on exploring the byways of late-Baroque German repertoire will find this disc fascinating and enjoyable.