Hercules

At the heart of the action is not the titular Hercules, but his wife Dejanira. Waiting for her beloved Hercules to return from his conquests has driven her nearly insane. When he finally comes home with a captive Iole, the daughter of the defeated king, Dejanira cannot believe he’s done this with no ulterior motives. Dejanira’s jealousy is baseless, but she nonetheless tries to win back her husband’s love—which she’d never actually lost—with a gift. However, the precious cloak slipped to her by a centaur is in fact poisoned, and Hercules suffers an agonizing death. In contrast, their son Hyllus finds true happiness in his love for Iole.

The premiere of Hercules in January 1745 was ill-fated. Handel had quickly whipped up several arias for a suddenly available star contralto, but then she became too ill for the premiere. After the singer who stepped in for the recitatives also turned out to be hoarse, no one could follow the tragic story anymore. The premiere was a flop. It was not until the nineteenth century that the piece’s dramatic power was rediscovered for the stage. With Hercules, director Barrie Kosky turns to another of the Handel oratorios that are seldom staged in this country. In a production that grows entirely out of the magnificent music, he makes the piece sparkle in all its grandiose and deeply human facets.

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Mezzo-soprano Paula Murrihy as Dejanira, whose voice melts the hearts of more than just Greek heroes!

Hercules’ sister Lichas announces her brother’s victory. He returns with a number of prisoners, including Princess Iole, daughter of the King of the Oechalians, whom he killed. Hercules rules that Iole may move freely in Trachin, but she’s inconsolable, mourning the loss of her father and home. Hercules swears to lay down his weapons forever, looking forward to his wife’s love.
But Dejanira’s consumed by jealousy: She thinks he only attacked and destroyed Oechalia to win Iole. Iole adamantly refutes this assertion. Lichas tries in vain to rid Dejanira of her tormenting thoughts, but she remains convinced of her husband’s infidelity.

Part II

Hyllus has fallen in love with Iole, but she spurns the son of the man who killed her father and destroyed her homeland.
Before Hercules leaves for the victory celebrations, Dejanira accuses him of being unfaithful. He denies her accusation and begs her to forget her groundless jealousy.

In her desperation, she remembers a garment the centaur Nessos gave her after Hercules fatally wounded him. Nessos promised that the shirt soaked in his blood would rekindle extinguished love. Dejanira has Lichas deliver the shirt to Hercules as a gift of reconciliation. Sure that her husband will be hers alone again, Dejanira asks Iole’s forgiveness.
Lichas tells how Hercules took the shirt from Dejanira during the sacrificial ceremony, and put it on: the heat from the fire on the altar made the poison in the robe melt and flow into his body. Hercules collapsed trying to tear the deadly material from his body.

In infernal torment, Hercules blamed his wife, and asked Hyllus to take his body to the top of mount Oeta and burn it on a funeral pyre. Horrified at having carried out Nessos’ revenge, Dejanira, delirious, sees her guilty soul hounded by Furies. Iole feels sorry for Hercules’ family, despite her own misfortunes. Jupiter’s priest proclaims that an eagle took Hercules’ body from the pyre and flew up to Heaven with it, where he now resides with the Gods. It is Jupiter’s wish that Hyllus marry Iole.