A shepherd boy with a slingshot, David by name, is the rising rock star, and Saul, his aging king, is going ballistic. Handel’s Biblical oratorio bristles with complex emotions demanding singing actors of the highest order. Barrie Kosky’s stage action, originally devised for Glyndebourne, involves a lot of clatter that fastidious ears will not appreciate. But the tortured psychology of the title character emerges with riveting immediacy, and his ungodly consultation with the (male) Witch of Endor held audiences spellbound. As at Glyndebourne, the mighty Christopher Purves stars. —M.G.