#handel

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

New growth on an Arizona sycamore (Platanus wrightii), Sierra Vista, Arizona.

I park under this tree, and in appreciation of its shade, here is a recording of Lorraine Hunt Lieberson's consummate performance of "Ombra mai fu" from Handel's opera seria Serse. Because of its earnest tone, many people think it is a sacred song, but it is really an ode to a sycamore tree.

Ombra mai fu Di vegetabile Cara ed amabile Soave più

Frondi tenere e belle Del mio platano amato Per voi risplenda il fato Tuoni, lampi, e procelle Non v'oltraggino mai la cara pace Né giunga a profanarvi austro rapace

Never was there shade From a plant More dear and lovely Nor more sweet

17th: Handel's Rodelinda from Garsington Opera. Featuring Lucy Crowe, Tim Mead, Ed Lyon, and Hugh Cutting. Free!

17th: Wagner's Siegfried from the Rotterdam Philharmonic at De Doelen. Concert presentation. Featuring Clay Hilley, Rebecca Nash, and Brian Mulligan. Subscription.

19th: Puccini's Manon Lescaut from Gran Teatre del Liceu. Featuring Asmik Grigorian, Joshua Guerrero, and Iurii Samoilov. Single purchase or season subscription.

19th: Fagerlund's Morgonstjärnan from Ooppera Baletti Finland. World premiere. Featuring Johan Reuter, Jenny Carlstedt, and Helena Juntunen. Free!

22nd: Tchaikovsky's Eugene Onegin from Müpa Budapest. Concert presentation. Featuring Anna Shapovalova, Alexey Markov, and Szabolcs Brickner. Free!

23rd: Smetana's The Bartered Bride from Teatro Real. Featuring Natalia Tanasii, Sean Panikkar, and Martin Winkler. Free!

24th: Glass's Satyagraha from Opéra de Paris. Featuring Anthony Roth Costanzo, Davóne Tines, and Deepa Johnny. Subscription or Rental.

25th: Verdi's Falstaff from Juilliard's Vocal Arts program. Featuring Minki Hong, Page Michels, and Titus Muzi. Free! No VOD period.

30th: Debussy's Pelléas et Mélisande from Teatro alla Scala. Featuring Bernard Richter, Sara Blanch, Simon Keenlyside, and John Relyea. Rental.

Joyce DiDonato's beloved Carnegie Hall master classes are back, streaming on Medici on the 19th, 20th, and 21st.