Renowned for their Handel interpretations, Harry Christophers and his award-winning ensemble, The Sixteen, add to their glittering catalogue of Handel discs with this new recording of Jephtha. The last oratorio that he wrote, Jephtha is also often seen as his most profound; the portrayal of Jephtha's suffering is particularly noteworthy for its astonishing sincerity.

“The solo singing was wonderful. As Jephtha, James Gilchrist offered a complex portrait of spiritual disintegration, taking his fatal vow with ecstatic, if misguided certainty, his virtuoso bravado later giving way to jagged declamation as his world collapsed around him. Susan Bickley registered his wife's anguish with unflinching veracity. Sophie Bevan was the sensual Iphis, Robin Blaze her amorous Hamor: their rapturous first-act duet lingered in the memory all evening – a reminder that it is the emotional lives of this young couple that are the ultimate casualty of Jephtha's catastrophic folly.”

Tim Ashley, The Guardian (on The Sixteen’s performance of Jephtha at The Barbican)