Orlando (opera)
Encyclopedia
Orlando is an opera seria
in three acts by George Frideric Handel
written for the Royal Academy of Music (1719). The Italian
-language libretto
was adapted from Carlo Sigismondo Capece's L'Orlando after Ludovico Ariosto
's Orlando Furioso
, which was also the source of Handel's operas Alcina
and Ariodante
.
in London
on 27 January 1733. There were 10 performances and it was not revived. The first modern production was at the Unicorn Theatre, Abingdon
, on 6 May 1959. The United States premiere of the opera was presented by the Handel Society of New York
(HSNY) in a concert version on 18 January 1971 at Carnegie Hall
. Stephen Simon conducted the performance with Rosalind Elias
in the title role, Camilla Williams
as Angelica, Betty Allen
as Medoro, Carole Bogard as Dorinda, and Justino Díaz
as Zoroastro. The HSNY had made the first recording of the opera in 1970 in Vienna with a mostly different cast for RCA Red Seal Records
. Peter Sellars
directed the first staged production of the work in the United States at the American Repertory Theater on 19 December 1981. Countertenor
Jeffrey Gall sand the title role and Craig Smith
conducted.
London's Royal Opera House
revived their 2003 production of the opera in February and March 2007 with Bejun Mehta
again in the title role. The company's magazine, About the House, described Orlando's mad scene as "one of the most remarkable pieces of writing in Handel's output." The role of Angelica was sung by Rosemary Joshua
and that of Dorinda by Camilla Tilling
. The conductor was Sir Charles Mackerras
and the director was Francisco Negrin.
The role of Orlando, originally written for Senesino, the great alto castrato, is nowadays generally performed by a countertenor (e.g. James Bowman or David Daniels) or a mezzo-soprano (e.g. Patricia Bardon or Marijana Mijanovic). The role of Medoro, however, was originally written for an alto (mezzo-soprano), and this is usually retained in modern performance (e.g. Hilary Summers
), though not always. The characters of Dorinda and Angelica are represented by sopranos, and Zoroastro by a bass.
's army, falls desperately in love with the pagan princess Angelica, who is in turn in love with another man, Medoro. Orlando cannot accept this and he is driven to madness, prevented from causing absolute carnage only by the magician Zoroastro (who eventually restores his sanity).
Opera seria
Opera seria is an Italian musical term which refers to the noble and "serious" style of Italian opera that predominated in Europe from the 1710s to c. 1770...
in three acts by George Frideric Handel
George Frideric Handel
George Frideric Handel was a German-British Baroque composer, famous for his operas, oratorios, anthems and organ concertos. Handel was born in 1685, in a family indifferent to music...
written for the Royal Academy of Music (1719). The Italian
Italian language
Italian is a Romance language spoken mainly in Europe: Italy, Switzerland, San Marino, Vatican City, by minorities in Malta, Monaco, Croatia, Slovenia, France, Libya, Eritrea, and Somalia, and by immigrant communities in the Americas and Australia...
-language 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...
was adapted from Carlo Sigismondo Capece's L'Orlando after Ludovico Ariosto
Ludovico Ariosto
Ludovico Ariosto was an Italian poet. He is best known as the author of the romance epic Orlando Furioso . The poem, a continuation of Matteo Maria Boiardo's Orlando Innamorato, describes the adventures of Charlemagne, Orlando, and the Franks as they battle against the Saracens with diversions...
'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...
, which was also the source of Handel's operas Alcina
Alcina
Alcina is an opera seria by George Frideric Handel. Handel used the libretto of L'isola di Alcina, an opera that was set in 1728 in Rome by Riccardo Broschi, which he acquired the year after, during his travels in Italy...
and Ariodante
Ariodante
Ariodante is an opera seria in three acts by Handel. The anonymous Italian libretto was based on a work by Antonio Salvi, which in turn was adapted from Canti 5 and 6 of Ludovico Ariosto's Orlando Furioso...
.
Performance history
The opera was first given at the King's TheatreHer Majesty's Theatre
Her Majesty's Theatre is a West End theatre, in Haymarket, City of Westminster, London. The present building was designed by Charles J. Phipps and was constructed in 1897 for actor-manager Herbert Beerbohm Tree, who established the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art at the theatre...
in London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
on 27 January 1733. There were 10 performances and it was not revived. The first modern production was at the Unicorn Theatre, Abingdon
Abingdon, Oxfordshire
Abingdon or archaically Abingdon-on-Thames is a market town and civil parish in Oxfordshire, England. It is the seat of the Vale of White Horse district. Previously the county town of Berkshire, Abingdon is one of several places that claim to be Britain's oldest continuously occupied town, with...
, on 6 May 1959. The United States premiere of the opera was presented by the Handel Society of New York
Handel Society of New York
The Handel Society of New York was a New York City based musical organization that presented concert and semi-staged performances of operas and oratorios by George Frideric Handel from 1966-1974. The group mainly performed out of Carnegie Hall and was responsible for presenting the American and...
(HSNY) in a concert version on 18 January 1971 at Carnegie Hall
Carnegie Hall
Carnegie Hall is a concert venue in Midtown Manhattan in New York City, United States, located at 881 Seventh Avenue, occupying the east stretch of Seventh Avenue between West 56th Street and West 57th Street, two blocks south of Central Park....
. Stephen Simon conducted the performance with Rosalind Elias
Rosalind Elias
Rosalind Elias is an American mezzo-soprano, a rich-voiced singer of fine musicianship who enjoyed a long and distinguished career at the Metropolitan Opera.-Life and career:...
in the title role, Camilla Williams
Camilla Williams
Camilla Ella Williams is an American operatic soprano and the first African American to receive a contract with a major American opera company.-Biography:...
as Angelica, Betty Allen
Betty Allen
Betty Allen was a renowned American operatic mezzo-soprano who had an active international singing career during the 1950s through the 1970s...
as Medoro, Carole Bogard as Dorinda, and Justino Díaz
Justino Díaz
Justino Díaz is an internationally renowned bass-baritone opera singer. In 1963, Díaz won an annual contest held at the Metropolitan Opera of New York, becoming the "first" Puerto Rican to obtain such an honor and as a consequence, made his Metropolitan debut on October 1963 in Verdi's Rigoletto...
as Zoroastro. The HSNY had made the first recording of the opera in 1970 in Vienna with a mostly different cast for RCA Red Seal Records
RCA Red Seal Records
RCA Red Seal Records is a classical music label and is now part of Sony Masterworks.The Red Seal label was begun in 1902 by the Gramophone Company in the United Kingdom and was quickly picked up by its United States affiliate, the Victor Talking Machine Company, and its president, Eldridge R. Johnson...
. Peter Sellars
Peter Sellars
Peter Sellars is an American theatre director, noted for his unique contemporary stagings of classical and contemporary operas and plays...
directed the first staged production of the work in the United States at the American Repertory Theater on 19 December 1981. Countertenor
Countertenor
A countertenor is a male singing voice whose vocal range is equivalent to that of a contralto, mezzo-soprano, or a soprano, usually through use of falsetto, or far more rarely than normal, modal voice. A pre-pubescent male who has this ability is called a treble...
Jeffrey Gall sand the title role and Craig Smith
Craig Smith (conductor)
Craig Smith was an American conductor who is considered a seminal figure in Boston's Baroque music revival of the 1970s and 1980s. In subsequent years he became increasingly known as an international conductor...
conducted.
London's Royal Opera House
Royal Opera, London
The Royal Opera is an opera company based in central London, resident at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden. Along with the English National Opera, it is one of the two principal opera companies in London. Founded in 1946 as the Covent Garden Opera Company, it was known by that title until 1968...
revived their 2003 production of the opera in February and March 2007 with Bejun Mehta
Bejun Mehta
Bejun Mehta is an American countertenor who performs in operas, recitals, and concerts. He records for Harmonia Mundi.-Early life and family:...
again in the title role. The company's magazine, About the House, described Orlando's mad scene as "one of the most remarkable pieces of writing in Handel's output." The role of Angelica was sung by Rosemary Joshua
Rosemary Joshua
Rosemary Joshua a British soprano, particularly known for her performances in Handel's operas.Joshua was born in Cardiff and studied at the Royal College of Music. After completing her studies there, she made her debut at the Aix-en-Provence Festival as Angelica in Handel's Orlando...
and that of Dorinda by Camilla Tilling
Camilla Tilling
Camilla Tilling is a Swedish soprano in opera and concert.- Professional career :Camilla Tilling studied at the Högskolan för scen och musik in Göteborg and at the Royal College of Music in London, where she graduated in 1998.Her opera debut was the role of Olympia in Offenbach's The Tales of...
. The conductor was Sir Charles Mackerras
Charles Mackerras
Sir Alan Charles Maclaurin Mackerras, AC, CH, CBE was an Australian conductor. He was an authority on the operas of Janáček and Mozart, and the comic operas of Gilbert and Sullivan...
and the director was Francisco Negrin.
Roles
| Role | Voice type | Premiere Cast, 27 January 1733 (Conductor: - ) |
|---|---|---|
| Orlando Roland Roland was a Frankish military leader under Charlemagne who became one of the principal figures in the literary cycle known as the Matter of France. Historically, Roland was military governor of the Breton March, with responsibility for defending the frontier of Francia against the Bretons... , a knight |
alto Alto Alto is a musical term, derived from the Latin word altus, meaning "high" in Italian, that has several possible interpretations.When designating instruments, "alto" frequently refers to a member of an instrumental family that has the second highest range, below that of the treble or soprano. Hence,... 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... |
Senesino Senesino Senesino was a celebrated Italian contralto castrato, particularly remembered today for his long collaboration with the composer George Frideric Handel.-Early life and career:... |
| 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... , Queen of Cathay |
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... |
Anna Maria Strada Anna Maria Strada Anna Maria Strada was an Italian soprano of the 18th century. She is best remembered for her association with the composer George Frideric Handel, in whose operas Strada sang.-Career:... |
| Medoro, an African prince | alto | Francesca Bertolli Francesca Bertolli Francesca Bertolli was an Italian contralto of the 18th century. She is best remembered for her association with the composer George Frideric Handel, in whose operas she sang.... |
| Dorinda, a shepherdess | soprano | Celeste Gismondi |
| Zoroastro, a magician | bass | Antonio Montagnana Antonio Montagnana Antonio Montagnana was an Italian bass of the 18th-century who is best remembered for his association with the composer George Frideric Handel, whose operas Montagnana sang in.... |
The role of Orlando, originally written for Senesino, the great alto castrato, is nowadays generally performed by a countertenor (e.g. James Bowman or David Daniels) or a mezzo-soprano (e.g. Patricia Bardon or Marijana Mijanovic). The role of Medoro, however, was originally written for an alto (mezzo-soprano), and this is usually retained in modern performance (e.g. Hilary Summers
Hilary Summers
Hilary Summers is a Welsh contralto. She was trained at Reading University, the Royal Academy of Music, and the National Opera Studio in London. She has performed on soundtracks such as The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers, The Libertine, and The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy...
), though not always. The characters of Dorinda and Angelica are represented by sopranos, and Zoroastro by a bass.
Synopsis
Orlando (Roland), a great soldier in CharlemagneCharlemagne
Charlemagne was King of the Franks from 768 and Emperor of the Romans from 800 to his death in 814. He expanded the Frankish kingdom into an empire that incorporated much of Western and Central Europe. During his reign, he conquered Italy and was crowned by Pope Leo III on 25 December 800...
's army, falls desperately in love with the pagan princess Angelica, who is in turn in love with another man, Medoro. Orlando cannot accept this and he is driven to madness, prevented from causing absolute carnage only by the magician Zoroastro (who eventually restores his sanity).
Recordings
- CD: William ChristieWilliam Christie (musician)William Lincoln Christie is an American-born French conductor and harpsichordist. He is noted as a specialist in baroque repertoire and as the founder of the ensemble Les Arts Florissants....
, Les Arts FlorissantsLes Arts Florissants (ensemble)Les Arts Florissants is a Baroque musical ensemble in residence at the Théâtre de Caen in Caen, France. The organization was founded by conductor William Christie in 1979. The ensemble derives its name from the 1685 opera by Marc-Antoine Charpentier. The organization consists of a chamber orchestra...
, with Patricia Bardon, Rosa Mannion, Hilary SummersHilary SummersHilary Summers is a Welsh contralto. She was trained at Reading University, the Royal Academy of Music, and the National Opera Studio in London. She has performed on soundtracks such as The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers, The Libertine, and The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy...
, Rosemary JoshuaRosemary JoshuaRosemary Joshua a British soprano, particularly known for her performances in Handel's operas.Joshua was born in Cardiff and studied at the Royal College of Music. After completing her studies there, she made her debut at the Aix-en-Provence Festival as Angelica in Handel's Orlando...
, Harry van der KampHarry van der KampHarry van der Kamp is a Dutch bass singer in opera and concert.- Singing career :Van der Kamp studied first law and psychology in Amsterdam...
(1996) - CD: Christopher HogwoodChristopher HogwoodChristopher Jarvis Haley Hogwood CBE, MA , HonMusD , born 10 September 1941, Nottingham, is an English conductor, harpsichordist, writer and musicologist, well known as the founder of the Academy of Ancient Music.-Biography:...
, Academy of Ancient MusicAcademy of Ancient MusicThe Academy of Ancient Music is a period-instrument orchestra based in Cambridge, England. Founded by harpsichordist Christopher Hogwood in 1973, it was named after a previous organisation of the same name of the 18th century. The musicians play on either original instruments or modern copies of...
(AAM), with James Bowman, Arleen AugérArleen AugerJoyce Arleen Auger was an American soprano singer, admired for her coloratura voice and interpretations of works by Bach, Handel, Haydn, Monteverdi, Gluck, and Mozart.-Biography:...
, KirkbyEmma KirkbyDame Carolyn Emma Kirkby, DBE is an English soprano singer and one of the world's most renowned early music specialists. She attended Sherborne School For Girls in Dorset and was a classics student at Somerville College, Oxford, and an English teacher before developing a career as a soloist...
, Robbin, Thomas (1991) - DVD: William ChristieWilliam Christie (musician)William Lincoln Christie is an American-born French conductor and harpsichordist. He is noted as a specialist in baroque repertoire and as the founder of the ensemble Les Arts Florissants....
, production Jens-Daniel HerzogJens-Daniel HerzogJens-Daniel Herzog is a German stage director for play and opera, and a theater manager.-Professional career:Jens-Daniel Herzog was born in Berlin, the son of the actor Peter Herzog. He studied Philosophy at the FU Berlin....
, Zurich OperaZurich OperaOper Zürich is an opera company based in Zurich, Switzerland. The company gives performances in the Opernhaus Zürich which has been the company’s home for fifty years.-History:...
, with Marijana Mijanovic, Janková, Peetz, Wolff (2006 performances, 2008 release)
Sources
}} The second of the two volume definitive reference on the operas of Handel- Orlando (ii) by Anthony Hicks, in 'The New Grove Dictionary of OperaNew Grove Dictionary of OperaThe New Grove Dictionary of Opera is an encyclopedia of opera, considered to be one of the best general reference sources on the subject. It is the largest work on opera in English, and in its printed form, amounts to 5,448 pages in four volumes....
', ed. Stanley Sadie (London, 1992) ISBN 0-333-73432-7