Nicholas McGegan Conducted the Festspiel Orchester Göttingen; Catherine Turocy Stage Director/Choreographer ; Scott Blake Stage Design, Pierre Dupouey Lighting, Bonnie Kruger Costumes
CAST : Susanne Rydén — Teseo, Amy Freston — Agilea , Dominique Labelle— Medea, Drew Minter — Egeo, Céline Ricci— Clizia, Robin Blaze — Arcane
Members of The New York Baroque Dance Company: Rachel List, Alexis Silver, Justin Coates, Junichi Fukuda, Alan Jones and Gregory Youdan
Sarah Edgar Assistant to the Stage Director, Nicolai Spiess Production Assistant, Theodora Da Silva Photographer
Opera Review: Operanetz.de June 11, 2011 Zuruck
Turocy is deemed to be the leading specialist for the reconstruction of historical performance practices, especially for choreography. This is not only seen in every moment of this production but also that each moment greatly profits from this knowledge.
It is also possible to question the references and critically reflect on what these characters have to do with us today. When the work is crafted so confidently and skillfully as Catherine Turocy’s, then it is with great joy that one sees the action on stage with the gestures and affects that accord with the original premiere in 1713.
The baroque-ified stage effects are knowingly presented playfully. A rectangle over the stage not only shows the supertitles, but it also provides videos of the performers backstage. This breaks the association with baroque theater tradition and shows that everything is a play within a play. It also shows that the performers themselves are contemporary people before and after their entrances and exits, and they flirt with the instruments that they use onstage. One of the high points of the stylization of the baroque carrying-ons was the regulated gestures of the protagonists, embellished by the inserted dances from the members of the New York Baroque Dance Company, whose director is Catherine Turocy. The dancers function both as supernumeraries among the singers and are themselves protagonists in a large dance scene.
In spite of the historical performance practice, this Teseo demonstrated vividly the topicality and vitality of the composer George Friedrich Händel. Enthusiastic applause and many bravi occurred already during the performance after the arias, and at the end a true storm of enthusiasm was unleashed.
The New York Baroque Dance Co. 
[…] Handel’s Teseo […]