Alcina’s Literary Origin

By Jonathan Dean

Vintage line drawing of the Italian poet Ludovico Ariosto (1474–1533), who is famous for his epic Orlando furioso.

The troubled and troubling love-life of the seductive sorceress Alcina was first chronicled in the greatest epic poem you probably don't know: Orlando furioso by Ludovico Ariosto. Written in flowing octaves of luscious Italian between 1506 and 1532, this sprawling saga spins a vast spiderweb-like story of ladies and knights, love and weapons, courage and chivalry over some 600 pages. In a way it’s an Italian answer to the British legends of King Arthur, Merlin, and the rest. (Merlin, in fact, puts in an appearance early on in Orlando furioso, prophesying to Bradamante that she and Ruggiero will wed and found a mighty family. Ariosto compliments his noble patron, Duke Este of Ferrara, by making Ruggiero and Bradamante his ancestors.)

From the Stage to the Podium

Rehearsals are underway at Seattle Opera for Alcina, George Frideric Handel’s spellbinding story of sorcery and seduction. At the helm is conductor Christine Brandes, who, despite making her Seattle Opera conducting debut in this production, has performed at Seattle Opera before—as a singer. In a recent profile by Joanne Sydney Lessner in Opera News, Brandes detailed the process that brought her from the stage into the pit.

Alcina’s Gender Jumble

By Joshua D. Gailey

The homoerotic undertones highlighted by Alcina’s cross-dressing plot has made the opera a favorite among queer opera fans. © James Glossop / Opera North.

On Alcina’s magic island, nothing is certain; feelings are fickle, ex-lovers are transformed into beasts, and the island itself is but an illusion. Even gender is unstable: the opera’s intricate story features a woman disguising herself as a man to rescue her fiancé—a role that was written for a castrato, commonly performed by a mezzo-soprano, and played in our production by a countertenor. To top it all off, our production gender-swaps a character, Melissa, to match her gender in the source text, Ludovico Ariosto’s Orlando furioso. Although cross-dressing was a common attribute of 17th- and 18th-century opera seria, the level of gender play in Alcina is nonetheless striking for modern audiences, and has even led some viewers to regard Handel as the “queerest of opera composers.”