Cavalli : Ercole Amante

« …This is a fine performance. From the first note of the Sinfonia, Pygmalion deliver Cavalli’s score with panache, from inventive continuo playing to gently pulsing strings to a battery of characteristically French early winds (e.g., the douçaine). Throughout, the ornamentation is tasteful and the gestures idiomatic, and Pinchon is responsive to the singers. The cast is consistently good. Among the principals, Argentine bass Nahuel di Pierro deserves praise for an energetic performance as Ercole, and Giuseppina Bridelli is an appropriately doleful Deianira. » – FANFARE

« A remarkable production of the Opéra Comique…a simply unforgettable show.  » – SCHERZO

« In November 2019 this imaginatively playful staging by Valérie Lesort and Christian Hecq was filmed at Paris’s Opéra-Comique. It’s witty and eye-catching, with all sorts of surprising theatrical tricks (lots of flying machinery and judicious usage of a trap door), and the co-directors relish the fun that the drama offers but also appear equally interested in touching pathos and telling insights when it counts.

Raphaël Pichon directs with flair for colourful textures and lively attention to details. He presents the complete text, including many lines essential to the plot that Corboz unwisely omitted. …Pygmalion’s animated music-making serves to resuscitate this extraordinary opera admirably. » – GRAMOPHONE

« Three hours of fun from the Opera Comique: Valérie Lesort’s production of Cavalli’s Ercole Amante is witty and stylishly extravagant… The cast is excellent, likewise the chorus.  » – OPERA NOW