Handel: Saul

It starts wonderfully with the head of Goliath and the Israelites celebrating David's great victory over the giant. Saul is terribly jealous and even paranoid over David's success. So the story goes, and it's beautifully retold here. This is from the Glyndebourne festival 3-pak that I bought recently. Christopher Purves is moving as Saul, although you wouldn't want to spend a social evening with the character, and Iestyn Davies as David and Lucy Crowe as Saul's daughter Merab give solid support.