Joyce DiDonato loves how George Frideric
Handel makes no concessions to any of the usual operatic conventions
in "Hercules."
"Audiences have to invest a lot, but once they pay their
dues at the beginning, they’re rewarded with a dramatic payoff
at the end," the soprano says.
"Hercules" is yet another opera that’s been unearthed
during the Handel Renaissance that’s been going on for nearly
two decades. The performances of "Hercules" at the
Brooklyn Academy of Music’s Opera House, beginning Feb. 14, come
directly from the acclaimed production that took audiences and
critics by storm in Aix-en-Provence, France, last year; the stage
director is Luc Bondy, while William Christie – no stranger to
BAM audiences over the years – directs his world-renowned baroque
music ensemble Les Arts Florissants.
As for Kansas City-born DiDonato, she’s no stranger to Handel,
but says she wasn’t prepared for the extraordinary depth of both
the story and music of "Hercules."
"When I sang [the role of Hercules’s wife, Dejanira] in
France, it was only my second staged production of Handel, even
though I’ve also recorded some of his music," she admits.
"But I discovered that ’Hercules’ is an incredible drama,
and what Handel does better than any other composer is take the
heightened emotions of each character to the extreme.
"In ’Hercules,’ the drama unfolds slowly: Handel lays the
foundation of a domestic situation that goes terribly wrong.
It’s really a roller-coaster ride: the husband [Hercules, sung
by William Shimell], his wife, and their son [Hyllus, sung by
Ed Lyon] are about as dysfunctional a family as can be. And everything
completely collapses in the end: the husband is murdered; the
wife goes crazy; and the son is left alone [albeit with his father’s
lover]."
For her part, the seasoned diva, who has tread the boards of
the Houston Grand Opera, La Scala and the Paris Opera, made sure
to keep Dejanira recognizably human amid extreme emotions.
"At the beginning, she’s in a state of depression, and then
she goes downhill from there," says DiDonato with a laugh.
"The challenge is to not make [Dejanira] into a caricature,
but instead validate her journey.
"This opera was written 300 years ago, but we can still
see characters walking around like her today.
"She’s consumed by jealousy, but is she right to be? She
convinces herself that her husband has been unfaithful, and Handel
musically underlines the ambivalence that’s present. There’s
a stunning moment when the poison [of jealousy] goes into her
veins, and it’s shown by Handel beautifully in the accompanying
music," says DiDonato.
With "Hercules," conductor Christie and Les Arts Florissants
return to BAM for their 14th appearance.
"There’s a reason Bill is almost solely responsible for
this Handel resurgence: he’s so passionate about this music,"
DiDonato enthuses. "There is an incredible sense of drama
that Handel crafted in his music and Bill brings it to life.
I will always cherish working with him."
DiDonato has just released a CD of music by 20th-century American
composers Aaron Copland, Leonard Bernstein and Jake Heggie called
"The Deepest Desire."
"It’s about as far away from Handel as you can get, with
the exception that they’re all very emotionally charged pieces,"
the soprano says. "I got carte blanche to record what I
wanted, and I wanted to introduce American music through Eloquentia
[the recording company based in France]. People have told me
they discovered some great music by listening."
Another unique experience for the soprano was filming the original
production of "Hercules" for the recently-released
Bel Air Classiques DVD.
"It added a lot to this production in particular,"
DiDonato explains. "They were doing intense close-ups of
the singers, and I loved that because I felt like I was in a
real film: everything on my face was going to be read. I couldn’t
phone it in or approximate anything. They filmed it beautifully,
and the payoff was great."
But DiDonato agrees that the payoff will be even more overwhelming
live, particularly in a venue like the BAM Howard Gilman Opera
House.
"It’s one of Bill’s favorite places to perform in the whole
world, and I cannot wait to go there for the first time!"
she exclaims. "’Hercules’ requires a lot of work from the
audience, unlike some other Handel operas, and BAM has the perfect
audience to handle that.
"This opera reminds me of an Ibsen play without music,"
DiDonato continues, mindful that two actual Ibsen plays – "Hedda
Gabler" and "Peer Gynt" – are coming to BAM later
this spring. "There’s humor and a lot of drama, and you’re
always going down that roller-coaster without stopping."
Aix-en-Provence’s production of Handel’s
"Hercules" will be performed Feb. 14, 16 and 18 at
7:30 pm and Feb. 19 at 3 pm at BAM’s Howard Gilman Opera House
(30 Lafayette Ave. at Ashland Place in Fort Greene). Tickets
are $35-$135 on Valentine’s Day and Feb. 16; tickets for the
Feb. 18-19 performances are $45-$150 and can be purchased by
calling (718) 636-4100 or by visiting www.bam.org.
