mopbite.blogg.se

Jonathan Cohen conducted the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment, with Beth Taylor as Bradamante, Alastair Miles as Melisso, Soraya Mafi as Morgana, Jane Archibald as Alcina, Rowan Pierce as Oberto, Svetlina Stoyanova as Ruggiero, Thomas Elwin as Oronte and James Cleverton as Astolfo. We caught a performance of Francesco Micheli's production of Handel's Alcina at Glyndebourne Opera on 27 July 2022. Handel: Alcina - Soraya Mafi - Glyndebourne Opera (Photo Tristram Kenton) Now, how often have you seen that represented in a production of the opera? The libretto describes the final scene as taking place in ' A Prospect of the Splendid Palace of Alcina surrounded with Trees, Statues, Obelisks and Trophies, and Dens of wild Beasts an Urn rais'd in the Middle which incloses the whole Power of the Inchantment' and the ending to the scene includes a moment when Ruggiero ' throws down the Urn and breaks it, when the Scene wholly disappears, changing to the Sea, which is seen thro' a vast, subterraneous Cavern, where many Stones are chang'd into Men and among them is Astolfo, who embraces Oberto: They form the Chorus and they Dance'. It was a plot perfectly designed to show of the spectacular settings of the Covent Garden Theatre, and we should imagine those first audiences being spellbound by the settings, by the combination of visuals, music and dance.įew modern directors, however, are interested in the mechanics of Handel and his librettist's plot. The opera represents a return to the exotic magic-based operas of Handel's early days in London ( Rinaldo, Teseo, Amadigi di Gaula), again with a sorceress who, though technically not on the side of good, to whom Handel shows great sympathy. Handel had already written Ariosto-based operas, and his patrons would be completely familiar with the essentials of the plot. Ariodante would feature a complex integration of dance and drama, though it is likely that the opera was never performed in the form that Handel originally wrote it.Īlcina is based on Ariosto's Orlando Furioso, a poem that composers regularly mined for operatic plots. Handel would create the ballet, Terpsicore, for Sallé and would include dance into both Ariodante and Alcina. The Covent Garden Theatre, where Handel gave his next few seasons, was known for its spectacular productions, there was also a small chorus available and for the first season, a dance troupe led by Marie Sallé. But, ever the practical man of the theatre, he made the best of the circumstances.

When Handel wrote Alcina, he had parted company from most of the stars of his opera company and had been forced to seek a new theatre. The magic of Alcina recreated as a 1950s showgirl in a lavish production that combined spectacle with performances at the highest level

Handel: Alcina Jane Archibald, Svetlina Stoyanova, Soraya Mafi, Beth Taylor, Rowan Pierce, Thomas Elwin, dir: Francesco Micheli, Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment, cond Jonathan Cohen Glyndebourne Opera Handel: Alcina - Jane Archibald - Glyndebourne Opera (Photo Tristram Kenton)