Alcina - Royal Ballet and Opera

Alcina - Royal Ballet and Opera description

Sorcery, seduction, jealousy, and baroque splendour — Alcina is George Frideric Handel's most bewitching opera, and one of the great treasures of the repertoire. At the Royal Opera House in a production by director Richard Jones, this tale of an enchantress and her hapless captives promises an evening of theatrical magic as dazzling as anything the season has to offer.

The story unfolds on the magical island of Alcina, a sorceress of extraordinary power and — at least initially — equally extraordinary allure. Her island is populated by the remains of her former lovers, whom she has transformed into animals, streams, and rocks once she has tired of them. Her latest conquest is the knight Ruggiero, who is entirely under her spell — until his devoted wife Bradamante, disguised as a man, arrives to reclaim him. As Alcina's web of enchantment begins to unravel, the opera moves from glittering spectacle to genuine heartbreak: she is a villain, but also a woman who loves and loses, and Handel gives her music of devastating emotional power.

The score is among Handel's finest — an astonishing sequence of da capo arias that explore every shade of love, jealousy, grief, and longing. It is music that demands the very finest singing, and the Royal Opera has assembled a cast of exceptional vocal artists to do it justice.

Director Richard Jones, celebrated for his witty, inventive, and theatrically assured productions at the Royal Opera House and beyond, brings his characteristic intelligence to a work that rewards both playfulness and depth.

Alcina is baroque opera at its most spectacular and most human. Do not resist the enchantment.

Playing at Royal Opera House

Bow Street, London, WC2E 9DD GB (venue info)

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