Alcina by Händel, T 15 feb 2023, No (2023/2023), Diriģents Marc Minkowski, Gran Teatre del Liceu, Barcelona, Spain

From Ludovico Ariosto's epic poem Orlando furioso , Händel wrote one of his most popular and inspired operas. Full of fantasy and melodic wit, Il c aro Sassone made - along with Orlando and Ariodante - one of his roundest works. Released in London's Covent Garden in 1735, it presents a story full of Homeric echoes where the magnificent character of the betrayed witch Alcina draws heroes to her island to seduce them and forget their own land. The fight between Ruggiero and Bradamante to get rid of the evil witch still captivates us. Truffled with the most beautiful vocal pages of his production, Alcina , in its English premiere, featured such important singers as Carestini and Negri. Is it a risk of perverted love or the delights of unbridled passion? Beyond the supernatural theme, Händel's genius was able to portray Alcina, perhaps one of the most complete and well-profiled soprano roles in opera, as a woman who suffers: deeply human and moving. Each aria is a progressive exercise in psychological deepening where the singing of the defeated witch awakens a strange compassion within us. A mirage between love and passion, Alcina seems tailor-made for vocal pyrotechnics and to develop the character of the characters in this love drama. Marc Minkowski, French director and true Handelian specialist, knows how to look for all colors (from subtlety to ambiguity) and will offer an ambitious reading of the work in which feelings, magic and betrayal are mixed, not without a dose of humor. Minkowski, with an extraordinary bouquet of soloists and at the head of his group, Les Musiciens du Louvre, will be able to discover the emotions and desires hidden with all the expressiveness desired by the composer. "I'm looking forward to it again."