#baroque opera

Look at this! Just look at this photo!!!!

Sophie Junker and Bruno de Sá as Deidamia and Pyrrha (Achilles)

Yup! That's a guy behind her!!!! The dude is simply PERFECT at his performance of Achilles/Pyrrha! There he is again (on the left)

Man the fact that I even need to point out where he is shows how great the makeup team actually was and how great the dude was to his performance of Achilles! I mean look at him! He is much more feminine than what I could ever be in his role! I swear to God he could pass for a woman entirely!!!!! Which shows how great he was!

And the voice dude THE VOICE!!!!!!!!!!!! I swear! I am a trained soprano (not to that level of course) and yes there are men who sing high notes (see this contra-tenor I had also referenced for Achilles) but you generally hear a range towards the area of mezzo-soprano and you can actually tell from some smoother transitions that we talk about a contra-tenor. But THIS dude is a full-on singing soprano there!!!!! This is not a contra-tenor he is a man-soprano I swear to god! (and the dude in the scene is the bass singer Petros Magoulas [Πέτρος Μαγουλάς] who plays Lycomedes yeah even an opera can find a Greek even if it is not a casting for a movie and the actors are not supposed to necessarily look their parts!!!!! Tragic irony!) In fact the original opera was written for a soprano for the part of Achilles, which actually shows how insanely talented this artist is! (Also Lycomedes and Phoenix were supposed to be bass, Ulysses/Odysseus was supposed to be played either by a contratenor or a mezzo-soprano, Deidamia and her friend were soprani)

The performance of this underrated opera was actually both conducted and stage-directed by George Petrou (Γιώργος Πέτρου) yup! Another Greek! The costume as well as set designs were done by...yup you guessed it! Another Greek Giorgina Germanou (Γιωργίνα Γερμανού). Ιt was supposed to be a satirical play which connects the past and the present. A bunch of silent characters to the background are the tourists of modern day Skyros who supposedly arrive for a wedding and at the same time "participate" to the events of the myth with their imagination, seeing it through the eyes of their head. Also the several prompts such as the armor and the pieces of jewelry presented to the protagonists, symbolically come out of museum glass cases:

(The part where they take out Greek flags killed me!!!! I did not see that coming like at all! But I died! I was physically clapping!!!! Comedy gold!)

The performance took place during Wexford Festival Opera, National Opera House, Wexford, Ireland, Saturday 18 October 2025. Singers:

Deidamia – Sophie Junker Nerea (Deidamia's friend)– Sarah Gilford Achilles (Pyrrha) – Bruno de Sá Odysseus – Nicolò Balducci Phoenix – Rory Musgrave Lycomede – Petros Magoulas

Composer: George Frideric Händel Libretto: Paolo Antonio Rolli

SERPENS AGITATUS NON QUIESCIT

L’angue offeso mai riposa,

se il veleno pria non spande

dentro il sangue all’offensor.

Così l’alma mia non osa

di mostrarsi altera e grande,

se non svelle l’empio cor.

Domenico. Light and agile voice, focused more on technic and position than on attack and energy, perfect for all types of arias, especially G. F. Handel and Agostino Steffani, remind me of Yana Dyakova and her «what like it’s hard?» moment on every coloratura.

I've seen her in person when she was in tour in my city with «Le nozze di Figaro» and sing Cherubino (obviously, he's little devil). She was brilliant!

Tonio. Full and rich voice, excellent breath control that in combined into ultimate R. Broschi performer. I imagine his voice sounding like Cecilia Bartoli, his affection, energy and emotionality is his strength as well as his artistry and feel of the character

(love her costume and I think it'd suits Tonio well).

Yes, the same aria, on a purpose to compare their technics like it’s compared in books.

Armand. As we know from books his voice is seductive. For me it means a half covered technic (how how my professor used to call it) that make voice sound warmer and softer despite of emotions and attack. And only one singer comes into my mind when I think about this technic – Marianne Crebassa. I can’t choose one aria, so here’s playlist. Mozart's «Lucio Silla» is in fact so Armand coded. No wonder that it was my obsession in teen ages.

And finally, Marius. Just Thomas Hampson. Here’s trio from «Les Contes d’Hoffman» (Thomas Hampson is Coppeluis, Kate Lindsey is Nicklausse and Vittorio Grigolo is Hoffman). By the way Kate Lindsey' voice is my headcanon for Rickardo and Vittorio Grigolo' for Mael.