Baroque Orchestra , Jacobs singers perform 'Hypermnestra'

History was made this weekend as the opera “Hypermnestra” was performed for the first time at IU.

As the hair-raising pitches of six Jacobs School of Music singers and the warm instruments of the IU Baroque Orchestra sounded from the stage in an almost-full Auer Concert Hall, the two-hour-long opera showcased many talents.

The performance was made possible through a collaboration between IU’s Early Music Institute and musicology professor Lawrence Bennett from Wabash College.

“Hypermnestra” had not been performed for more than 200 years until its performance, at Wabash College on February 22.

“We heard some fine voices,” Bennett said. “Everyone really got into the pieces dramatically.”

Bennett rediscovered the piece in 1995 after he received a grant from the German Academic Exchange Service to study early 18th century music manuscripts for a month. He was not only the first American to work with a collection of manuscripts from Meiningen, Germany, but he brought that collection back and introduced his version in a newly edited performance.

In three acts, the opera touched on topics including love, hate, deception and war.

The main plot revolved around Danaus, a tyrant over the city of Argos, Greece, and his daughter Hypermnestra. Danaus’ wish is to marry off all of his daughters. When an oracle tells him he is to be killed by a future son-in-law, Danaus persuades his daughters to kill their husbands. All obey except Hypermnestra, as she goes on to protect her lover, Lyncaeus.

Sophomore Alize Rozsnyai played the title role.

“I really liked the performance,” Bloomington resident Thea Smith said. “My favorite part was watching Alize. To have a voice like that at her age is incredible. She had a perfect integration of sound.”

The opera featured solos, duets, trios and quartets between the singers.

“It was really beautifully written,” said Elizabeth Pearse, a female masters student who played the male role Lyncaeus. “I really liked singing in the trio.”

The Baroque Orchestra, conducted by Stanley Richie, featured early music instruments such as a harpsichord, which sounds like a tin piano.

The opera was performed in German, which might prove to be a challenge for some singers, but not for Pearse. She said most singers study German as a part of their degree.

Description of the sung dialogue was projected in English on a nearby screen to help audience members understand the story’s details.

“I thought everyone did a beautiful job,” Bennett said. “They all worked so hard and have matured so well throughout the production.”