Organization

Singer

Bass

William Shimell

Hercules

Mezzo-soprano

Joyce DiDonato

Dejanira

Tenor

Toby Spence

Hylluse

Soprano

Ingela Bohlin

Iole

Contralto

Malena Ernman

Lichas

Simon Kirkbride

Priest of Jupiter

Conductor

William Christie

Stage director

Luc Bondy

Costume designer

Rudy Sabounghi

Set designer

Richard Peduzzi

Lighting designer

Dominique Bruguière

Les Talens Lyriques

Opéra National de Paris

Others

Choeur des Arts Florissants

Les Arts Florissants

English

Paris

France

Palais Garnier

Hercules by G. F. Handel, from Opéra de Paris - Garnier, performed at Palais Garnier, 2004. Directed by Luc Bondy, conductor William Christie, starring Malena Ernman, Joyce DiDonato, Toby Spence, Ingela Bohlin, William Shimell, Simon Kirkbride. Performed in English.

William Christie and Les Arts Florissants, masters of Baroque music, join forces with director Luc Bondy in Paris to stage this brilliant, lesser-known masterwork by Handel. Superstar mezzo-soprano Joyce DiDonato shines as Hercules’ wife Dejanira, performing her demanding part with “affecting intensity and tireless stamina” (The New York Times).

Inspired by the ninth book of Ovid's Metamorphoses, Hercules is a highlight of Handel’s later output. A “musical drama” rather than a traditional opera, it was not originally written for the stage, but the music is as spectacular as any Handel ever wrote. This top-notch production, brimming with brio and subtlety under Bondy and Christie, proves that it can stack up against any giant of the opera genre.

Dejanira fears that her husband Hercules will never return from a lengthy absence. When he does finally return from his conquests, it is in the company of Iole, a strikingly beautiful slave. Stricken mad by jealousy, Dejanira gifts Hercules with a ceremonial garment she believes will restore his love—but it is, unbeknownst to her, soaked in poison and becomes the agent of Hercules’ demise. Tormented by guilt, Dejanira descends into madness, while Hercules, set aloft on eagles’ wings, takes his place among the gods in Olympus.

Hercules
'Musical Drama' in three acts by Georg Friedrich Handel (1685 - 1759)
Libretto by Thomas Broughton, after 'Les Trachiniennes' by Sophocles and 'Metamorphoses' by Ovid
Premiere in London, King's Theatre, 5 January 1745

Hercules Händel

Approved

Production booklet

Further reading