Pierre-Louis Rétat and Chiome d’Oro revive Giovanni Battista Bassani’s (1650–1716) “Il Giona”, a rare oratorio from 1689 in which Jonah, torn between Hope and Obedience, is ultimately swept up by the storm. In Ambronay Abbey Church, David Debrinay and Capucine Keller’s staging and lighting give this inner drama a striking intensity. 
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Il Giona sets one of the best-known episodes from the Old Testament to music: God commands Jonah to go and preach in Nineveh, but the prophet chooses instead to flee by sea. A storm breaks out, the crew holds him responsible for the disaster and throws him overboard, before he is swallowed by a giant fish. Under the direction of Pierre-Louis Rétat, Chiome d’Oro returns to this remarkable score, composed by Giovanni Battista Bassani in 1689 for the court of Francesco II d’Este in Modena.
Inside Jonah’s mind
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