"Handel composed his three-act opera seria Ariodante in 1735. It was his first opera to be performed at the Covent Garden Theatre, the predecessor of the Royal Opera House. But apart from one revival a year later and a more recent lockdown livestream, tonight's performance of Jetske Mijnssen's directorial debut for the Royal Opera is the first time the opera has been performed at Covent Garden in front of an audience since those early performances."
"Ariodante's narrative is taken from Ariosto's influential 16th-century epic poem Orlando furioso, the source material for three Handel operas, Ariodante, Orlando and Alcina, with the libretto being taken from Antonio Salvini's y' Ginevra, Principessa di Scozia. The opera is set in an idealised medieval Scotland and centres on Ariodante, who is betrothed to Ginevra, the King of Scotland's daughter. Their happiness is threatened by the scheming Duke Polinesso, who desires both power and Ginevra."
Ariodante, composed by Handel in 1735, was his first opera performed at the Covent Garden Theatre and has rarely been staged there since. Jetske Mijnssen directed a recent revival that marks the first in-person Covent Garden staging since the 18th century, apart from a later revival and a lockdown livestream. The narrative derives from Ariosto's Orlando furioso via Antonio Salvini's libretto and is set in an idealised medieval Scotland. The plot follows betrothed lovers Ariodante and Ginevra, the scheming Duke Polinesso, and Dalinda, whose mistaken complicity in a disguise-based plot leads to Ariodante's despair, Ginevra's condemnation, a confession, Polinesso's death, and eventual restoration.
Read at www.london-unattached.com
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