Handel’s Alcina

Thursday and Friday, May 25 and 26, performances feature a 6:45 p.m. pre-performance talk by Dr. Alison C. DeSimone 

Part of the Evelyn Dunbar Early Music Festival 

Joachim Schamberger, director; Stephen Alltop, conductor; Dunbar Festival Orchestra 

Alcina inhabits an enchanted island of her own making, where she holds the power to turn her lovers into animals, plants, and stones when she tires of a relationship. Sensing Alcina’s hidden desire for genuine love, Bradamante and Melisso set out to take her on a journey of healing and self-discovery; in the process, they hope to save the heroic Ruggiero from becoming yet another casualty in Alcina’s parade of transformed exes. But will Alcina’s own transformation come at a price? Handel’s tale of mistaken identities and amorous pursuits features some of his finest operatic music, from sublime melodies to spectacular vocal fireworks.  

Performed in Italian with English supertitles. Run time: Approximately 2 hours.