The first collaboration ever between conductor William Christie and director Luc Bondy with mezzo-soprano Joyce DiDonato, this production of Hercules has been a major event. Hercules returns from the war with Iole, a princess he fell in love with. Mad with jealousy, Déjanire, his wife, ends up totally insane after poisoning her husband. Half theatrical performance, half secular oratorio, Hercules wasn’t originally meant to be performed in front of an audience. Luc Bondy chose to show the dramatis personae as ordinary people, victims of their passions. The superb Chorus of the Arts Florissants, both mediator and prosecutor, is the main witness of this tragedy of women’s jealousy.

Haydn’s stupendous, joyous and uplifting oratorio Die Schöpfung (The Creation) is thrillingly brought to life in this recording with Andrés Orozco-Estrada conducting the Houston Symphony, with the Houston Symphony Chorus and the acclaimed operatic soloists Nicole Heaston, Toby Spence and Peter Rose. With its startling dramatic gestures, bold orchestral colours and sublimely beautiful word painting, Haydn’s astonishing depiction of the Genesis creation story remains his supreme masterpiece and one of the best-loved works in the entire choral repertoire. In a vivid series of tableaux, from the creation of light to Adam and Eve’s love duet, Haydn brings to life the birds, beasts and angels which all rejoice in soaring, life-affirming music. Andres Orozco-Estrada writes: “What I love most about this piece is the tone painting and the richly colored way the music describes nature and animals. We tried to give the listener the possibility to imagine the musical illustrations Haydn composed in the “Creation,” which distinguish this outstanding work of art from others.”