DVD + Blu-Ray:
Cavalli - Ercole Amante / Opéra Comique

Stunning Opéra Comique production of Cavalli’s opera Ercole Amante staged by Valérie Lesort and Christian Hecq and performed by ensemble Pygmalion.

Opera in a prologue and five acts (1662)
Libretto by Francesco Buti

Francesco Cavalli, a natural successor to Monteverdi, was the most famous and influential Italian opera composer during the mid-17th century. Cardinal Mazarin, chief minister to the king, commissioned Cavalli to create a Parisian spectacle to celebrate the wedding of the ‘Sun King’ Louis XIV and the Infanta of Spain. Ercole amante (‘Hercules in Love’) was the flattering subject chosen for this regal extravaganza combining larger-than-life characters with mythology, and genuine human emotions with natural and cosmic phenomena. The result is a sumptuous Baroque spectacle, conceived on a vast scale in this lavish production by directors Valérie Lesort and Christian Hecq.

The production was awarded as ‘Best Opera Production 2020’ by the prestigious ‘Critics and Press Association’ in France.

Ercole – NAHUEL DI PIERRO Bass
Giunone – ANNA BONITATIBUS Mezzo-soprano
Deianira, wife of Ercole – GIUSEPPINA BRIDELLI Mezzo-soprano
Iole – FRANCESCA ASPROMONTE Soprano
Hyllo, son of Ercole – KRYSTIAN ADAM Tenor
Il Paggio – RAY CHENEZ Countertenor
Licco – DOMINIQUE VISSE Countertenor

Choir and Orchestra – PYGMALION
Conductor – RAPHAËL PICHON
Stage Directors – VALÉRIE LESORT, CHRISTIAN HECQ

Film Director – FRANÇOIS ROUSSILLON
Filmed on 6 and 8 November 2019 at the Opéra Comique

[2.110679-80 / NBD0118V]
Total playing time: 187 minutes
Language: Italian · Subtitles: IT, EN, FR, DE, JP, KR
DVD: NTSC 16:9 · PCM stereo and DTS 5.1 · 2 DVD 9 · Region: 0
BD: HD 16:9 · PCM stereo and DTS-MA 5.1 · BD 50 · Region: A, B, C