Handel’s Alcina makes its overdue Rome debut

Carlo Vistoli (Ruggiero) and Mariangela Sicilia (Alcina)

Mariangela Sicilia (Alcina)

Alcina

Mary Bevan (Morgana) and Anthony Gregory (Oronte)

Carlo Vistoli (Ruggiero) and Francesco Salvado (Melisso)

By Pia Maltri, 21 March 2025

Loading, please wait...

See full listing

“for once, one wouldn’t have minded a few more bells and whistles”

Reviewed at Teatro Costanzi, Teatro dell'Opera, Rome on 18 March 2025

Handel, Alcina

Teatro dell'Opera di Roma

Rinaldo Alessandrini, Conductor

Pierre Audi, Director

Patrick Kinmonth, Set Designer, Costume Designer

Matthew Richardson, Lighting Designer

Orchestra del Teatro dell'Opera di Roma

Coro del Teatro dell'Opera di Roma

Mariangela Sicilia, Alcina

Carlo Vistoli, Ruggiero

Caterina Piva, Bradamante

Mary Bevan, Morgana

Silvia Frigato, Oberto

Anthony Gregory, Oronte

Francesco Salvadori, Melisso

Ciro Visco, Choirmaster / chorus director

Grigolo shines in a mixed new Roméo et Juliette at the Opera di Roma

Pia Maltri, 28th April

With its 1940s setting, Luca Del Fusco’s direction alienates in a new production of Gounod's Shakespeare-inspired opera.

***11

Handel’s Il trionfo del tempo e del disinganno returns to Rome

Pia Maltri, 7th April

Robert Carsen’s staging of Handel's oratorio arrives, via Salzburg, in the city where Handel composed it in 1707.

****1

Ariadne in Rome: David Hermann’s Strauss staging highlights contrasts

Pia Maltri, 1st March

In an opera rarely staged in Italy, David Hermann skilfully masters the metatheatrical challenges posed by the libretto to Ariadne auf Naxos.

****1

Abandon all hope: Lucia Ronchetti's Inferno receives Italian premiere

Pia Maltri, 19th February

The Italian premiere of Lucia Ronchetti’s Inferno at the Teatro dell’Opera di Roma uses Dante’s original verses, but her score fails to match their beauty.

***11

Livermore’s successful Bohème opens at the Teatro dell'Opera di Roma

Pia Maltri, 14th January

Originally staged at the Caracalla Baths in 2014, Davide Livermore’s production comes in from the cold.

****1

Wagner’s Lohengrin finally returns – swanless – to Rome

Pia Maltri, 27th November

Damiano Michieletto is entrusted with the first staging of Lohengrin in Rome for 50 years, but his distracting staging is redeemed by the musical side of things.

***11

More reviews...

Pia Maltri

Pia first fell head over heels for opera when she was a teenager by listening to recordings of some of the great voices of the past: Maria Callas, Giuseppe Di Stefano, Mirella Freni, Alfredo Kraus. She holds a degree in Italian Literature and she lives in Rome.