Dramma per musica in three acts by Antonio Vivaldi, RV 728
Libretto by Grazio Braccioli
A coproduction with the Teatro Comunale di Ferrara, the Teatro Comunale Pavarotti-Freni in Modena and the Bayreuth Baroque Opera Festival

In Italian with German and English surtitles
2 intermissions – after act 1 and 2 

The Paladin Orlando is madly in love with Princess Angelica. Angelica herself loves the soldier Medoro, from whom she is separated when fleeing from Orlando; she lands on the island of the sorceress Alcina. The bewitching and equally love-crazed Alcina in turn loves Astolfo first of all, then Orlando and Ruggiero, and finally Bradamante. However, Bradamante turns out to be Ruggiero’s betrothed; she has disguised herself as a man in order to free her lover from Alcina’s clutches.

Based on Ariosto’s epochal epic poem Orlando furioso, the “Red Priest” Antonio Vivaldi created a nest of confusion that is at times despairing and tragic, at times poignant yet comical, all about the highs and lows of love, about magic, and the ordeals of human interrelationships. Vivaldi set the dramatically cleverly construed libretto by Grazio Bracciolo twice to music, both times for the Teatro Sant’Angelo in Venice. However, it was in the second version of 1727 that Vivaldi could first draw on the musical energy and dramatic stringency that make his Orlando furioso into one of the most astonishing works in the history of Italian opera. Congregating around Yuriy Minenko in the title role, a top-class ensemble presents a fast and furious opera performance directed by the Baroque specialist Marco Bellussi.