Egypt

Who built the Giza Pyramids, and why? It’s an age-old question. Many have puzzled and theorised over the problem. The Egyptians make the claim to fame, but their own history clouds that assumption. The Jews claim an Exodus from that land, but their sacred books never once mention the pyramids by name, and Egypt has no record of the Jews.

Latest release on VIVAT brings Mendelssohn’s astonishing reconstruction of Handel’s great oratorio Israel in Egypt. Mendelssohn’s 1833 Düsseldorf performance has been painstakingly reconstructed from fragments and sources across Europe: the large and colourful orchestra, playing nineteenth-century instruments, produces vivid new sonorities, and the double choir sings magnificently. Listeners familiar with Handel’s 1739 version will also find new numbers, significant changes to the order of movements and very different orchestrations. The work starts with a thrilling, pure-Mendelssohn overture, mixing life and energy with moments of exquisitely shifting instrumental colours. There is fine solo singing from solo sopranos Lydia Teuscher and Julia Doyle, alto Hilary Summers, tenor Benjamin Hulett, and bass Roderick Williams: Robert King and The King’s Consort are on top form.

Course Lecture Titles King NarmerThe Unification of Egypt SneferuThe Pyramid Builder HatshepsutFemale Pharaoh AkhenatenHeretic Pharaoh TutankhamenThe Lost Pharaoh TutankhamenA Murder Theory Ramses the GreatThe Early Years Ramses the GreatThe Twilight Years The Great NubiansEgypt Restored Alexander the GreatAnatomy of a Legend The First PtolemiesGreek Greatness CleopatraThe Last Pharaoh…

Apollo's Fire's founder and director Jeannette Sorrell is "a masterful musical storyteller" (Seen and Heard). The Maestra and her acclaimed baroque orchestra add to their distinguished AVIE discography that includes Handel's Dixit Dominus and Messiah, with her own adaptation of the composer's oratorio Israel in Egypt.

Bob Brier is an Egyptologist and Professor of Philosophy at the C.W. Post Campus of Long Island University. He received his Bachelor’s degree from Hunter College and Ph.D. in philosophy from The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

From 1981–1996 he was Chairman of the Philosophy Department at C.W. Post Campus of Long Island University. He has served as Director of the National Endowment for the Humanities’ “Egyptology Today” program.

Professor Brier has twice been selected as a Fulbright Scholar and has received LIU’s David Newton Award for Teaching Excellence in recognition of his achievements as a lecturer.

In 1994, Dr. Brier became the first person in 2,000 years to mummify a human cadaver in the ancient Egyptian style. This research was the subject of a National Geographic television special, Mr. Mummy. Dr. Brier is also the host of The Learning Channel’s series The Great Egyptians.

Professor Brier is the author of Ancient Egyptian Magic (1980), Egyptian Mummies (1994), Encyclopedia of Mummies (1998), The Murder of Tutankhamen: A True Story (1998), Daily Life in Ancient Egypt (1999), and numerous scholarly articles.

Ancient Egyptian civilization is so grand that our minds sometimes have difficulty adjusting to it. Consider time. Ancient Egyptian civilization lasted 3,000 years, longer than any other on the planet. When the young pharaoh Tutankhamen ruled Egypt, the pyramids of Giza had already been standing well over 1,000 years. When Cleopatra came to power, Tutankhamen had been in his tomb more than 1,000 years.