Performer: Badisches Staatstheater Karlsruhe

Ulrich Peters' 2024 production justifies the artistic value of Handel’s unjustly neglected opera and the literary value of Metastasio's libretto.

With dazzling set designs and powerhouse sopranos, Karlsruhe’s Rinaldo upholds the opera's Baroque fantasy allure in a flawed yet fascinating production, conducted by Rinaldo Alessandrini. 

Handel's Alcina at the Karlsruhe 2019 Handel Festival scores on all fronts, with two Australians taking the main roles. 

The problem with on-stage vulgarity is that, while it might be sophisticated and knowing satire, it ends by being what it is parodying.

Musically and scenically sumptuous melodrama with a solid cast in Karlsruhe.

An astringent sorbet between the courses of a heavily sauced Wagnerian banquet.