It is still startling to think that 30 years ago you’d hardly ever see a Handel opera performed, and now they are almost the mainstay of the repertoire. This music is a kind of medicine to de-gunk the spirit after the hysteria of regular nineteenth-century fare, and the range and depth of sympathy and emotion expressed in a minutely controlled and (in some senses) limited musical and formal language never ceases to amaze: how did he keep it going over some 40 operas?That revival here owes as much to James Conway of English Touring Opera as anyone else. And having given Conway much respect over the years for taking Handel seriously, I’m hardly going to complain too much that his latest production is witheringly earnest; still, it’s not great when the audience is driven to