Performer: James Robert Carson

Hirda is a Shetland name for a serious mess.  A forbidden love triangle with two ghosts to crank up the tension, this dazzling new opera mixes Shetland fiddle tunes with the classical and a sextet of clear passionate voices. 

Riccardo Primo, Re d’Inghilterra (or in English, Richard I), is Handel’s only opera based on the story of an English monarch, and it was premiered in the coronation year of King George II in 1727 (although in fact it was composed the year before but postponed).