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On January 13 and 14, 2012, St. James Cathedral was proud to present a staged,
costumed, evocatively lit evening of sung retellings of great Bible
stories—Abraham and Isaac, Job, Jephtha, and The Denial of St. Peter, with the
music of Baroque masters, Carissimi and Charpentier. The acclaimed singers and
instrumentalists of Pacific MusicWorks, directed by lutanist Stephen Stubbs,
performed the four compelling stories in the glorious architecture of St. James
with staging by internationally known director, Guillaume Bernardi.
Abraham hears
the voice of God asking him for the ultimate sacrifice, his beloved son,
Isaac.
"Pater mi, quid suspiras?" Isaac asks. "Father, why do you sigh?"
The angel intervenes, and joy is restored.
In the second drama, Jephtha makes a foolish vow before leaving for battle:
he promises God that if he is victorious, he will sacrifice the first person he
meets on his return.
His daughter, his only child, runs to greet him on his return.
Jephtha grieves. "Heu mihi! filia mea, heu!" "Alas, my daughter,
alas!"
The daughter forgives her father before going to her death.
Jephtha's daughter offers herself a willing sacrifice while the chorus sings a
famous lament: "Lament for Jephte's only child and daughter with songs of
sorrow."
The third drama tells the familiar story of Job: an angel and a devil
struggle over Job's soul.
But Job is strong, driving the devil away three times with the prayer: "Sit
nomen domini benedictum." "Blessed be the name of the Lord."
The fourth drama took us to the New Testament, with Charpentier's retelling of
the story of
St. Peter's denial of Christ. "Amen, amen, I say to you, before the cock
crows you will deny me three times."
Peter warms his hand at the fire following Jesus' arrest. But the others
suspect him.
"Are you not also a disciple of that man?"
"Then Jesus looked at Peter, and Peter remembered the words of Jesus, and he
went out, and wept bitterly."
The singers, joined by music director Stephen Stubbs, and stage director
Guillaume Bernardi.
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