Il palazzo incantato or Il Palagio d’Atlante, o vero La guerriera amante (Atlante's Palace, or The Warrior Woman in Love) is an opera

Opera

Opera is an art form in which singers and musicians perform a dramatic work combining text and musical score, usually in a theatrical setting. Opera incorporates many of the elements of spoken theatre, such as acting, scenery, and costumes and sometimes includes dance...

 in a prologue and three acts by the Italian

Italy

Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...

 composer Luigi Rossi. The libretto

Libretto

A libretto is the text used in an extended musical work such as an opera, operetta, masque, oratorio, cantata, or musical. The term "libretto" is also sometimes used to refer to the text of major liturgical works, such as mass, requiem, and sacred cantata, or even the story line of a...

, by Giulio Rospigliosi, is based on Ariosto's Orlando furioso

Orlando Furioso

Orlando Furioso is an Italian epic poem by Ludovico Ariosto which has exerted a wide influence on later culture. The earliest version appeared in 1516, although the poem was not published in its complete form until 1532...

. It was first performed in Rome

Rome

Rome is the capital of Italy and the country's largest and most populated city and comune, with over 2.7 million residents in . The city is located in the central-western portion of the Italian Peninsula, on the Tiber River within the Lazio region of Italy.Rome's history spans two and a half...

 in a lavish production at the Teatro delle Quattro Fontane

Teatro delle Quattro Fontane

The Teatro delle Quattro Fontane is an opera house in Rome, Italy, designed by Gian Lorenzo Bernini and built in 1632 by the Barberini family...

 (Palazzo Barberini

Palazzo Barberini

Palazzo Barberini is a palace in Rome, facing the piazza of the same name in Rione Trevi and is home to the Galleria Nazionale d'Arte Antica.-History:...

) on 22 February 1642. Rossi was criticised for giving too much music to his friend, the castrato

Castrato

A castrato is a man with a singing voice equivalent to that of a soprano, mezzo-soprano, or contralto voice produced either by castration of the singer before puberty or one who, because of an endocrinological condition, never reaches sexual maturity.Castration before puberty prevents a boy's...

 Marc'Antonio Pasqualini

Marc'Antonio Pasqualini

thumb|right|200px| Marcantonio Pasqualini Crowned by Apollo by [[Andrea Sacchi]].Marc'Antonio Pasqualini was an Italian castrato opera singer who performed during the Baroque period. He has been described as "the leading male soprano of his day"...

, who played Bradamante, at the expense of the other roles. Some of the highly complicated stage machinery failed to work during the performance too.

Roles

Role	Voice type	Premiere Cast
Atlante Atlantes Atlantes may refer to:*the plural form of Atlas , a column in the shape of a man*Atlantes , a fictional character in various chansons de geste and the poem Orlando furioso...	castrato Castrato A castrato is a man with a singing voice equivalent to that of a soprano, mezzo-soprano, or contralto voice produced either by castration of the singer before puberty or one who, because of an endocrinological condition, never reaches sexual maturity.Castration before puberty prevents a boy's...  (contralto Contralto Contralto is the deepest female classical singing voice, with the lowest tessitura, falling between tenor and mezzo-soprano. It typically ranges between the F below middle C to the second G above middle C , although at the extremes some voices can reach the E below middle C or the second B above... )	Lorenzo Sances
Orlando	tenor Tenor The tenor is a type of male singing voice and is the highest male voice within the modal register. The typical tenor voice lies between C3, the C one octave below middle C, to the A above middle C in choral music, and up to high C in solo work. The low extreme for tenors is roughly B2...	Odoardo Ceccarelli
Angelica Angelica (character) Angelica is a princess in the epic poem Orlando innamorato by Matteo Maria Boiardo. She reappears in the saga's continuation, Orlando furioso by Ludovico Ariosto, and in various later works based on the two original Orlando pieces...	castrato (soprano Soprano A soprano is a voice type with a vocal range from approximately middle C to "high A" in choral music, or to "soprano C" or higher in operatic music. In four-part chorale style harmony, the soprano takes the highest part, which usually encompasses the melody... )	Loreto Vittori
Bradamante Bradamante Bradamante is the sister of Rinaldo, and one of the heroines in Orlando Innamorato by Matteo Maria Boiardo and Orlando Furioso by Ludovico Ariosto in their handling of the Charlemagne legends, also called the Matter of France.She falls in love with the Saracen warrior Ruggiero, but refuses to...	castrato (soprano)	Marc'Antonio Pasqualini Marc'Antonio Pasqualini thumb|right|200px| Marcantonio Pasqualini Crowned by Apollo by [[Andrea Sacchi]].Marc'Antonio Pasqualini was an Italian castrato opera singer who performed during the Baroque period. He has been described as "the leading male soprano of his day"...
Ruggiero Ruggiero Ruggiero refers to a musical scheme which is at times harmonic and at times melodic. It is seen in 16th and 17th century music, for both vocal and instrumental pieces and improvisations. It most likely comes from reciting formulas used to perform Orlando Furioso, an epic poem by Ludovico Ariosto....	tenor	Francesco Bianchi
Doralice	castrato (soprano)	Giovanni Paolo Selli
Fiordiligi	castrato (soprano)	Ludovico Camelano
Marfisa Marfisa Marfisa is a character in the Italian romantic epics Orlando innamorato by Matteo Maria Boiardo and Orlando furioso by Ludovico Ariosto. She is the sister of Ruggiero but was separated from him in early childhood. She becomes queen of India and fights as a warrior for the Saracens, taking part in...	castrato (soprano)	Paolo Visconti
Alceste	castrato (contralto)	Mario Savioni
Ferraù Ferraù Ferraù is a character in French and Italian romantic epics dealing with the Matter of France, including Orlando innamorato by Matteo Maria Boiardo and Orlando furioso by Ludovico Ariosto.-Ferragus in the Pseudo-Turpin Chronicle:The character appears in one of the main episodes of the so-called...	tenor	Giacomo Brilli
Astolfo/Iroldo	tenor	Francesco Stilli
Huntsman/False Ruggiero	tenor	F.Acquisti
Mandricardo	bass	Bartolomeo Nicolini
Sacripante Sacripante Sacripante is a character in the Italian romantic epics Orlando innamorato by Matteo Maria Boiardo and Orlando furioso by Ludovico Ariosto. Sacripante is the King of Circassia and one of the leading Saracen knights...	bass	Antonio Sarci
Gradasso	bass	Geronimo Navarra

Synopsis

The magician Atlante captures Christian and pagan knights and ladies in his enchanted palace of illusions. Orlando, Ferraù and Sacripante enter the palace in search of Angelica. Bradamante seeks Ruggiero and, finding him with Angelica, vows to kill him in a fit of jealous rage. But Atlante calms things by reminding Angelica of her love for Medoro. Atlante feels threatened when Astolfo arrives as the knight is immune to his magic. Atlante convinces his captives that Astolfo is the enemy. Meanwhile, Ruggiero has broken the spell. Atlante responds by disguising himself as Ruggiero but when he is faced with a duel with the real Ruggiero he is forced to admit defeat. The magic palace vanishes and the knights and ladies are freed.

Sources

• The Viking Opera Guide ed. Holden (Viking, 1993)
• Le magazine de l'opéra baroque by Jean-Claude Brenac
• Del Teatro (in Italian)
• Amadeus Online