Among the most popular shows of 2018, Orlando furioso by Antonio Vivaldi returns to the stage of the Malibran Theatre. The Vivaldi opera inspired by Ludovico Ariosto’s masterpiece of the same name will be proposed in the production of the Fondazione Teatro La Fenice created in co-production with the Festival della Valle d’Itria of Martina Franca, directed by Fabio Ceresa, with scenes by Massimo Checchetto, the costumes by Giuseppe Palella and lighting design by Fabio Barettin. Responsible for the musical part is Diego Fasolis, master of the harpsichord and director of the Orchestra and Choir of the Teatro La Fenice. Drama for music in three acts with a libretto by Grazio Braccioli from Ludovico Ariosto’s masterpiece, Orlando furioso was performed for the first time in the Teatro Sant’Angelo in Venice in the autumn of 1727. The plot, largely reduced compared to the corpus of forty-six cantos of ‘Ariosto neglects the holy war between Christians and Muslims, focusing on the sentimental aspect of the sixteenth-century poem. Eros pervades each of the three acts, in which unrequited lovers alternate, machinations and spells plotted by the cruel sorceress Alcina, fallacious oaths of fidelity, recognitions and final reunions. In a fantastic atmosphere pervaded by flying horses, demonic forces and spells of all kinds, the madness that afflicts Orlando after discovering the union of Angelica and Medoro stands out: in the development of this madness there are both tragic moments and comic implications, as already in the Renaissance model, of which some verses are also paraphrased. In the end, ‘marital’ love prevails and the gnomic conclusion is not missing, pronounced by Astolfo: “Wise, he who prudently learns from failure.” This staging of Orlando furioso is based on the critical edition edited by Federico Maria Sardelli, owned by Casa Ricordi in collaboration with the Antonio Vivaldi Institute of the Giorgio Cini Foundation in Venice. The cast includes exceptional artists: the contralto Sonia Prina in the role of Orlando, the soprano Michela Antenucci in that of Angelica, the mezzo-soprano Lucia Cirillo in that of the sorceress Alcina; the contralto Loriana Castellano will be Bradamante; the mezzo-soprano Laura Polverelli, Medoro; countertenor Kangmin Justin Kim, Ruggiero; finally the bass Luca Tittoto will be Astolfo. The La Fenice Theater Chorus is prepared by Alfonso Caiani.
