Ercole Amante at Ars Minerva

Ercole Amante is a 1707 opera composed in Paris by an Italian woman, Antonia Bembo, that was never produced onstage until this weekend in San Francisco by Ars Minerva at the ODC Theatre. A concert version was performed in Germany last year, and the Paris Opera is producing it in six months, so it seems Ercole Amante's time has finally come at last. The composer was married young to an abusive Venetian nobleman, and she soon fled with her two sons to Paris where she was saved by Louis XIV, who hired her and housed her in a [presumably upscale] convent. She wrote this only extant opera late in her life, to an already existing libretto, about the abusive demi-god Hercules being an asshole to his wife and son when he decides he wants to swap them both out for his son's fiance. Many gods and goddesses are also involved, and the happy ending has Hercules receiving his karmic due.

Céline Ricci (above left) is an accomplished mezzo-soprano, who created Ars Minerva ten years ago to perform an annual Renaissance era opera, many of which have been stored in European music libraries for centuries. Ercole Amante has long been one of her passion projects since she shares the dual French-Italian origins of the composer and the two musical styles in this opera.

I saw and enjoyed all the Ars Minerva presentations from 2016 to 2021, but hadn't returned for four years because of life rather than disinterest. The projections this year by Entropy were as lovely as ever, although some of the animation became distractingly repetitive. The bare bones staging with anachronistic props by Céline Ricci was its usual mixture of sincere and comic. The tiny original instrument orchestra, conducted by Matthew Dirst at the harpsichord, was reliably splendid. And the costumes by Marina Polakoff were amusingly over-the-top.

The cast had strengths and weaknesses. From left to right: Nina Jones as Licco, the servant to Hercules's wife Deianira, was simply wonderful throughout, while company stalwart Kindra Scharich as that wife with the big hair was superb. Baritone Nick Volkert was a welcome presence in a quartet of roles including Neptune and a dead king, and Aura Veruni as Juno the Goddess of Marriage was a delightful schemer. The disappointment was baritone Zachary Gordin who certainly looked the part of Hercules but much of the role seemed to be written for a bass which was too low for his pleasant voice.

Soprano Lila Khazoum as the fiance Hyllo was lovely but occasionally had pitch problems on Saturday evening, while tenor Max Ary as Hercules's son Hyllo had difficulties with the higher regions of the role which sounded like it was written for a countertenor. Bottomless, deep-voiced contralto Sara Couden, meanwhile, was obviously having a ball playing the comic Page, and her duet with Nina Jones was one of the highlights, positing that only idiots get through love unscathed by Cupid's arrows.

Plaudits also go to Melissa Sondhi in the monster outfit above as Venus, who conspires with Hercules in his dastardly plans. It was a fun evening.