CULTURE

Handel’s opera ‘Hercules’ in Nemea and Athens

A stage has been set up at the ancient Temple of Zeus in Nemea for performances of the 18th-century composer Handel’s opera «Hercules» on August 6 and 8. The upcoming staging of this opera, which Handel based on Sophocles’ ancient tragedy «Women of Trachis,» is a co-production of the Culture Ministry-sponsored Hellenic Festival, the French-American Center for the Arts, and the University of California at Berkeley. Two shows will also be given at Athens’s Herod Atticus Theater on August 11 and 12. Contrary to the outcome of Sophocles’ play – in which Hercules dies before returning home from his great labors, and his wife, Deianeira, who is the cause of the death, commits suicide – Handel’s opera ends joyfully. It depicts a triumphant return by Hercules to Trachis, the unjustified jealousy felt by his partner during the hero’s absence, her faith in a specially treated garment that is offered to her by the dying Centaur Nessus to save his love from going astray, and marriage as the opera’s finale. The upcoming production, which runs for 90 minutes without an intermission, is directed by Michael Sisk, founder of the French-American Center for the Arts. Its orchestra, Fuoco e Cenere, which specializes in recordings of baroque music, comprises 14 musicians and a 12-member choir, and will be conducted by David Stern, a sibling of violinist Isaac Stern. The production’s stage and costumes were designed by Theoni Deni Vahlioti. It stars Ning Liang, Anna Ryberg, Simon Bailey, and Michael Bennett. The production’s local stagings are sponsored by the Stavros Niarchos Foundation, I.F. Costopoulos, and OPAP. Tickets are available at the Hellenic Festival box office, 39 Panepistimiou, tel 010.322.1459, and the Herod Atticus Theater, tel 010.323 2771, 010.323.5582; For credit card reservations call 010.322.1459.

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