Ariodante
The anonymous Italian libretto was based on a work by Antonio Salvi, which in turn was adapted from Canti 4, 5 and 6 of Ludovico Ariosto's Orlando Furioso.
Ariodante opened Handel's first season at Covent Garden and successfully competed against the rival Opera of the Nobility, supported by the Prince of Wales.
[1] Like Handel's other works in the opera seria genre, Ariodante, despite its initial success, fell into oblivion for nearly two hundred years.
On 29 March 1971, the Handel Society of New York performed the American premiere of the work in a concert version with mezzo-soprano Sophia Steffan in the title role and Judith Raskin as Ginevra.
An enormous success, Rinaldo created a craze in London for Italian opera seria, a form focused overwhelmingly on solo arias for the star virtuoso singers.
[8] The singers for whom Handel wrote "Ariodante" included a young soprano, Cecilia Young, whom he had not worked with before, considered by contemporary musicologist Charles Burney to be the finest English soprano of the day,[9] and the virtuoso castrato Carestini, whose astonishing technique and huge vocal range Handel made full use of, especially in the scena "E vivo ancora?
Polinesso, Duke of Albany, bursts into the room and, thinking that having the king's daughter as his sweetheart would advance his prospects, declares his love for her.
Left alone, Polinesso can see that Dalinda is in love with him and plans to use her to thwart his rival and win Ginevra for himself (Aria: Coperta la frode).
The King joins the lovers, gives them his blessing, and orders his courtier Odoardo to make the preparations for the wedding (Aria: Voli colla sua tromba).
Polinesso hatches his plot – he tells Dalinda that if she will dress as Ginevra that evening and invite him into her apartments, he will be hers (Aria:Spero per voi).
A delightful valley Ariodante and Ginevra enjoy the beauties of nature and each other's company (Duet: Se rinasce nel mio cor).
They are joined by shepherds and shepherdesses (Duet with chorus:Si godete al vostro amor) who dance to entertain them (Ballet).
A gallery in the palace As the King is making the final arrangements for his daughter's wedding, the courtier Odoardo brings him bad news – Ariodante has been seen committing suicide by leaping into the sea.
When Ginevra hears this, she collapses into delirium (Aria:Il mio crudel martoro) and all Dalinda's attempts to console her fail.
Hearing cries, Ariodante finds Dalinda, who is being held by thugs hired by Polinesso, with orders to kill her, as she is the only witness to his plot to discredit Ginevra.
Ginevra, condemned to death for sexual irregularity, appears before her father begging to be allowed to kiss his hand (Aria:Io ti bacio).
[8][12][13][14] The music for the leading soprano, Ginevra, is "outstanding", according to Paul Henry Lang, moving from joy to despair and back again to happiness.
"[17] Ariodante was given eleven performances in its original run, a mark of success for the time, and was revived by Handel for his 1736 season.
The English Concert gave semi-staged performances in 2017 in the U.S. and Europe, including at Carnegie Hall,[18] where the event was filmed, and at the Barbican Centre.
[19] The Salzburg Whitsun Festival presented a new production by Christof Loy on 2 June 2017 featuring Cecilia Bartoli as Ariodante, Kathryn Lewek as Ginevra, Sandrine Piau as Dalinda, Christophe Dumaux as Polinesso, Rolando Villazón as Lurcanio and Nathan Berg as the King.
