La liberazione di Ruggiero dall’isola d’Alcina

Premiere at the Teatro Real.

New production of the Teatro Real, in co-production with Teatros del Canal.

This "balletto in musica”, part opera, part ballet, based on the Cantos VI to VIII of Orlando furioso by Ariosto is not only the first opera ever composed by a woman, but it was also one of the first to be performed outside Italy - specifically in Poland – after its premiere at the court of the Medici.  The libretto demands a sumptuous number of theatrical effects –hippogryphs, a boat woven of whale bones, a winged sea monster and a ballet on horseback – which include a wide variety of ritornelli, balletti, choruses and trios of female voices, in the manner of the famous concerti delle donne (consort of ladies) of the damsels of Ferrara.