Deidamia (HWV 42)

Heroism lies not in strength, but in vulnerability. Achilles shines as one of the great figures of Greek mythology, yet like every superhero, he has his weakness. His proverbial Achilles’ heel has even entered our collective memory. At the centre of Handel’s final opera, however, stands not Achilles, but his beloved Deidamia. As the heroine of the story, she too has her weakness: she loves Achilles.

Deidamia is the eldest daughter of Lycomedes, King of the island of Skyros. Among his daughters lives Achilles, hidden and disguised as a girl to escape a deadly fate. According to prophecy, Achilles could secure victory for the Greeks in the Trojan War — but only at the cost of his own life. Yet the enticement of glory in battle proves irresistible to the warrior at heart, and Deidamia loses him forever.

With Deidamia, Handel bid farewell to Italian opera in London, turning his focus thereafter to oratorio. In this tragicomic final work, joy and sorrow lie close together. Librettist Paolo Antonio Rolli laced the Greek hero myth with a generous dose of humour. Heroism and secret love unfold against a backdrop of pastoral idylls, playful travesty, hunting spectacle, and armed tumult — a veritable rollercoaster of emotions that surely enticed Handel himself, inspiring music of refined psychological depth in the solos and great stylistic richness in the orchestral passages.

Alongside the title role of Deidamia, portrayed with nuance and finesse by Handel specialist Sophie Junker, stands the dazzlingly virtuosic role of Ulisse, sung by rising countertenor star Nicolò Balducci. Achille is performed by Bruno de Sá with his naturally pure soprano. In Handel’s day, by the way, the role of Achille was sung by a young woman — a trouser role performed in women’s attire.