Hercules at Theater an der Wien

Four years before the premiere of the beginning of January 1745 George Frederick Handel had given up his efforts to the opera and all facing the Oratory. Nevertheless, he described this, as did the year before resulting Semele, expressly as "musical drama" by which he probably wanted to emphasize the dramatic nature of these two works. The first performance of Hercules was a failure - last minute cancellations and stock hoarse singer had, as witnesses reported, led to unintentionally grotesque situations. In contrast to the ancient sources, the jealousy of Hercules' wife is unfounded in Thomas Broughton's libretto. Handel's interested in this work is not so much the title character, but in particular the tragic appearing behavior of his wife Deianira, inherent in the pathological traits. With her ??Handel has created one of his most exciting, explainable only by means of psychology, modern female figures.
Hercules may escape the usual classification by genus, but in the opinion of the Handel specialist Silke Leopold is one of the most historically important, dramatic poignant and musically wonderful works from the pen of George Frideric Handel.