Surprising Debut Discs Herald New Releases For Summer 2015

LOC "Hercules" Production Claimed Success For Sellars

Alice Coote, David Daniels and Eric Owens

"This isn't just a brilliant conclusion to the season. The new production of Handel's Hercules at Lyric Opera of Chicago goes well beyond that. It could be an important springboard for a renewed civic and, indeed, national conversation about issues concerning America's war veterans, issues many people would just as soon sweep under a rug. What happens to these soldiers when they return home, bringing their post-traumatic stress with them? Having turned off their emotions for combat, how do they turn them back on with the family and friends they left behind? The answer, in director Peter Sellars' thoughtful and enthralling new production, which opened Friday night at the Civic Opera House, is they don't." [Source]