Handel’s Ariodante returns home to Covent Garden

Emily D’Angelo (Ariodante)

Jacquelyn Stucker (Ginevra) and servants

Elena Villalón (Dalinda), Emily D’Angelo (Ariodante) and Christophe Dumaux (Polinesso)

Ed Lyon (Lurcanio), Peter Kellner (King), Emyr Lloyd Jones (Odoardo), Christoph Dumaux (Polinesso)

Emily D’Angelo (Ariodante), Jacquelyn Stucker (Ginevra), Ed Lyon (Lurcanio), Elena Villalón

By Roy Westbrook, 10 December 2025

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“her sublime ten-minute scena “Scherza infida”... was a vocal triumph”

Reviewed at Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, London on 9 December 2025

Handel, Ariodante

The Royal Opera

Stefano Montanari, Conductor

Jetske Mijnssen, Director

Étienne Pluss, Set Designer

Uta Meenen, Costume Designer

Fabrice Kebour, Lighting Designer

Orchestra of the Royal Opera House Covent Garden

Royal Opera Chorus

Emily D'Angelo, Ariodante

Jacquelyn Stucker, Ginevra

Elena Villalón, Dalinda

Christophe Dumaux, Polinesso

Ed Lyon, Lurcanio

Peter Kellner, King of Scotland

Emyr Lloyd Jones, Odoardo

Peter Grimes drops anchor again at The Royal Opera

Christopher Woodley, 5th May

Allan Clayton and Sir Bryn Terfel lead a strong cast in a revival of Deborah Warner's dark staging of Britten's signature work at Covent Garden.

****1

Two funerals and a bedding at the Linbury Theatre

Eleanor Knight, 1st May

Tales of love and loss as operas by Elena Langer, Charlotte Bray and Elizabeth Maconchy form a varied triple bill in this showcase for The Royal Opera’s Jette Parker Artists.

****1

The Turn of the Screw at RBO Linbury: Darkness and denial

Eleanor Knight, 26th March

Natalie Abrahami’s mesmerising new production of Britten’s ghostly tale of sexual abuse is very dark indeed.

*****

A riveting Rigoletto revival at the Royal Opera House

Dominic Lowe, 25th March

Sir Mark Elder celebrates 50 years at Covent Garden by returning to his first opera there in 1976 – Verdi's Rigoletto – in a revival of Oliver Mears' excellent 2021 production.

****1

Siegfried at the RBO: Kosky and Pappano surprise and delight

David Karlin, 17th March

A revelatory orchestral performance and a cast led by Andreas Schager, Christopher Maltman and Elisabeth Strid make this a Siegfried for the record books.

*****

Terfel’s craggy Boris Godunov returns to Covent Garden

Mark Pullinger, 29th January

The second revival of Richard Jones' staging of Mussorgsky's original 1869 version of Boris Godunov once again stars the Welsh knight.

****1

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Roy Westbrook

Roy Westbrook gained a diploma in music history at London University (Morley College) and was for some years the head of music day schools at Oxford University, where he also led music summer schools. After some years leading the University's business school he has returned to music teaching and writing, and recently took part in the Arts in Residence courses on Bruckner, Mahler and Bach He is co-author (with Terry Barfoot) of a history of opera, and has taught day schools on Sibelius in Oxford and elsewhere.