ORLANDO

Serbian premiere New Belgrade Opera and Opera and Theatre Madlenianum

OPERA IN THREE ACTS (1733)

MUSIC: GEORGE FRIDERIC HANDEL (1685–1759)

LIBRETTO: CARLO SIGISMONDO CAPECE

Predrag Gosta, arts manager, conductor, cembalo
Marijana Mijanovic, artistic advisor and vocal pedagogue
Alvaro Schoeck, director
Michaela Müller, animator
Merle Fahrholz, dramaturgist
Sanja Mimic, costume designer
Tijana Trailovic and Tamara Brankovic, set design
Nevena Djordjevic, project manager
Vesna Curcic Petrovic, stage manager
Dragana Andjelic Bunjac, repetiteur

ROLES:

Orlando – Bojan Bulatovic (Serbia), countertenor

Zaroastro – Sreten Manojlovic (Serbia/Austria), bass-baritone

Angelica – Radoslava Vorgic (Serbia), soprano

Dorinda – Ana-Marija Brkic (Bosnia and Herzegovina /Austria), soprano

Medoro – Dragana Popovic (Serbia), mezzo-soprano

The Baroque Orchestra of New Belgrade Opera on historical instruments

New Belgrade Opera and the Opera and Theatre Madlenianum are to meet the need for baroque repertoire on domestic music scene in October and November this year with the premiere performance of the baroque opera Orlando, by the composer George Frideric Handel.  Setting of the opera Orlando means a particular refreshing and the exclusivity for Belgrade music scene. The vocal ensemble consists of young, talented singers from the country and abroad, and the baroque orchestra on the historical instruments is conducted with cembalo by Predrag Gosta.

Opus of the baroque composer George Frideric Handel (1685-1759) consists of more than forty operas. Among them are the operas Orlando, Ariodante i Alcina, composed on the text of the poem Furious Orlando by the Italian writer Ludovico Ariosto. Handel’s opera Orlando is an adaptation of the eponymous opera from 1711, by the Italian creator Carlo Capeci. 

Orlando is composed as a serious Italian opera (opera seria) and the premiere was held 27th January 1733 at the Royal Theatre in London. The work of art had been performed only ten times and an aristocrat after the performance wrote: I have never been to better nor better performed music work- the famous castrato Senesino was the main actor and the other Italians were singing very emotionally but the audience was still in so small number that I do not believe they collected enough money even to pay all musicians in the orchestra.      

Handel’s work had been forgotten for almost 200 years, until 1922 when it was performed again. The interest in this stage performance was renewed in the mid of last century and since then Orlando has been a part of opera houses’ repertoires all over the world, so now Belgrade audience will also get the opportunity to enjoy the interpretation of this masterpiece of a great baroque master, the contemporary of Bach.

SUMMARY

The famous warrior Orlando is torn between Venus and Mars, love and duty. He is madly in love with Angelica, who is in love with Medoro. Orlando is overwhelmed by jealousy. Without luck in love is also a shepherdess Dorinda, who Orlando does not return love to. Orlando’s passion towards Angelica becomes destructive, he loses his mind and in his madness he wants to kill Angelica and Medoro. The magician Zoroastro calms down passions of the enraged hero by his magic powers and returns him to the secure path of duty and sense.