A Mythical Double Bill: Tales of Apollo and Hercules
review

Two relatively short works by Handel – the early (1709-10) Italian cantata Apollo e Dafne, and the late (1751) English oratorio The Choice of Hercules – are yoked together in this double bill directed by Thomas Guthrie for the 2025 London Handel Festival. Though there is no evidence that either work was staged in Handel’s lifetime – nor even intended to be – both have a narrative structure and defined characters, though in the second piece these are mostly allegorical.

Perhaps realising how static such works can be when presented in concert or in semi-staged form, Guthrie includes puppetry in The Choice of Hercules. The central character – who has nothing to sing until near the end – is presented as a kind of manipulated white marble bust. Both halves of the evening, meanwhile, feature six dancers from the New English Ballet Theatre, who articulate Valentino Zucchetti’s choreography with a combination of spirit and precision.

Given the potential for distracting from, rather than enhancing, Handel’s dramatically conceived music, Guthrie (who himself directs the puppetry) and his collaborative choreographer succeed in making their contributions integral to the evening’s visual success. By simply placing individual singers on a balcony or positioning solo instrumentalists either there or in the auditorium itself, the staging offers plenty for the audience to look at, without diluting their concentration on the music.
Continues...