The prestigious Hesse state theatre and opera house, in the German city of Wiesbaden, will be the venue for nine performances by the Catalan Anna Alàs in February, March and April. The mezzo-soprano will perform Handel’s Jephtha, an oratorio based on the Old Testament story of Jephtha.

An archaic story of love and war, power and a disastrous belief in the gods. These are some of the ingredients of Georg Friedrich Handel’s Jephtha, an oratorio that revolves around the rash promise Jephtha makes to the Almighty. According to the Book of Judges, Jephtha was a judge in Israel who swore that he would sacrifice the first creature he met on his return if he was victorious in the war against the Ammonites. Upon his return, the first person that he came across was his beloved daughter Iphis, a dramatic situation that presented him with the following dilemma: religion or humanity.

Mezzo-soprano Anna Alàs i Jové, born in Terrassa and established in Germany, is one of the voices of the moment. With an expressive personality and a warm Mediterranean voice, she is a regular presence in the country’s leading theatres and auditoria, as well as performing regularly on the European scene, something that has enabled her to achieve important milestones such as leading roles at the prestigious Berlin Staatsoper (2010 and 2014), or making her debut at the emblematic Philharmonie in the German capital (April 2015).

Alàs is in her element on stage and ingeniously mixes a scrupulous musicality, clearly evident when she sings lied or oratorio, with her desire to communicate. They are values raised to the status of virtues that international audiences and critics alike have recognized in her.