La Liberazione di Ruggiero dall’isola d’Alcina is also the first to evoke the character of the poisonous Alcina and her spells. The libretto by court poet Ferdinando Saracinelli features poems that were famous in their day by Ariosto (Orlando Furioso), Boiardo and Tasso, blending the chivalrous and the marvellous.
On an enchanted island, the knight Ruggiero finds himself torn between two women magicians. He is seduced by the beautiful and dangerous Alcina before being reminded of his duty by the good fairy Melissa – representing the Grand Duchess of Tuscany who commissioned the opera in 1625 to celebrate the visit of the Crown Prince of Poland to whom she wished to marry her daughter.
Composer Francesca Caccini (1587-approx.1641) was an exemplary figure in the musical blossoming of the first half of the Italian 17th century. Her graceful art flourished at the court of the Medicis in Florence, where she delighted her contemporaries and was admired for her many musical talents, particularly her singing concerts where she accompanied herself on the lute. Her refined writing enlivens this supernatural story with a blend of melodious arias, character-revealing recitatives and choruses of monsters and enchanted plants.
At the head of his ensemble, I Gemelli, which he founded with Mathilde Etienne, Emiliano Gonzalez Toro directs a cast and musicians well-versed in this repertoire, paying tribute to the beauty of this music, our Baroque offering for the season.
First performance February 3, 1625, at Villa di Poggio Imperiale, Florence
Considered one of the finest Handel specialists of his generation, Juan Sancho has performed the roles of Lurcanio (Ariodante) at the Opéra de Lausanne, Grimoaldo (Rodelinda) at the English National Opera, the Teatro Real in Madrid and the Théâtre des Champs-Elysées, Oronte (Alcina) at the Bolshoi, Bajazet (Tamerlano) in Madrid and Tempo (Il trionfo del Tempo e del Disinganno) in Madrid. He has released a solo album dedicated to Handel called “The Seven Deadly Sins” and also recorded Handel with Nuria Rial for Deutsche Harmonia Mundi (“Human Love, Love Divine”). He has collaborated with many conductors, including Michel Corboz, William Christie, Fabio Biondi, Jordi Savall, Diego Fasolis, Marc Minkowski, Ivor Bolton, George Petrou, Leonardo García Alarcón, Riccardo Minasi, Hervé Niquet, Jan Tomasz Adamus and Václav Luks. His future engagements include: Vitalino in Vivaldi’s Il Giustino at Drottinghom, Handel’s Belshazzar in Göttingen, Corselli’s Achille in Sciro at the Teatro Real in Madrid, and the title role in Gluck’s Orpheus at Biel-Solothurn.
At the Opéra de Lausanne: Ariodante (2016).