Baroque music ensemble Les Arts Florissants, led by its renowned founder William Christie, returns to BAM in Handel’s dramatic English opera, Hercules. This acclaimed Aix-en-Provence Festival production is presented at BAM in its U.S. premiere.
Director Luc Bondy – making his NY debut – modernizes this rarely performed, secular oratorio depicting the tragic return of the hero after a triumphant military campaign. This ancient myth is performed on a sparse stage, carpeted in sand and evoking a Greek amphitheater. A monumental, shattered statue is the central scenic element, surrounded by moving platforms.
Completing the modern staging of the Baroque opera, a 32-member choir in contemporary dress will move about the stage and serve as both a traditional chorus and as spectators.
Written in 1744, Hercules features some of Handel's most daring musical composition and vivid characterizations.
Hercules will take place in the BAM Howard Gilman Opera House, February 14, 16 & 18 at 7:30 p.m. and February 19 at 3 p.m.
Tickets, $35-$150, may be purchased by calling 718-636-4100 or by visiting www.bam.org.
With its origins in Sophocles and Ovid, Hercules considers the overwhelming and poisonous power of human jealousy. After Hercules' long absence on a military campaign, his wife, Dejanira, fears he has died. But her lament is interrupted by the hero's triumphant return, accompanied by an unexpected prize of conquest: the beautiful princess Iole, whom Hercules has ravaged an entire city to possess.
Assuming her husband has been unfaithful with his new slave, Dejanira's grief turns to jealous rage and, despite all protestations of innocence from both Hercules and Iole, she brings about his untimely death by poisoning his cloak.
