Ariodante
George Frideric Handel
If only one opera by Handel were to survive, the most popular choice would certainly be Ariodante.
Dates
Magdalena Kožená | Ariodante
Christophe Dumaux | Polinesso
Emiliano Gonzalez Toro | Lurcanio
Shira Patchornik | Dalinda
Erika Baikoff | Ginevra
José Antonio López | The King of Scotland
La Cetra Barockorchester Basel
Andrea Marcon | direction
About
Ariodante, the composer’s twenty-ninth Italian opera, was his first operatic work for the new Covent Garden theatre. Along with Alcina (which dates from the same year - 1735), it was one of his last Italian opuses to be successful in London. Handel’s highly inventive grasp of composition can be heard throughout, and principally in the writing for voice, which flourished due to his new means of expression and the greater breadth of his musical vocabulary. Handel is at the peak of his powers here.
Production Théâtre des Champs-Élysées