Ariodante  

Princess Ginevra and her fiancé, the knight Ariodante, are in bliss: young, beautiful, in love and destined one day to rule a prosperous kingdom. Everything, even nature, seems to be celebrating the harmony of their union, but such an idyllic picture can only whet the appetites and arouse the jealousies of the ambitious men who gravitate towards the King of Scotland. The Machiavellian Duke Polinesso sees marriage to the princess as the best way to gain power. To achieve his ends, he manipulates the young woman's confidante, Dalinda, and plays on the deceptive appearances of a dark night to compromise Ginevra, who seems to be falling under his sway.
Ariodante was first performed by Handel in London in 1735 with the castrato Carestini and some of the other great stars of opera seria who were being snapped up by European theatres at the time. Although the story is based on an episode from Roland furieux, Ariosto's famous epic of chivalry, it is not about magic or fantastic creatures, but about characters who are profoundly human, even when their passions flirt with the monstrous. Based on this strong psychological dimension, director Jetske Mijnssen turns the court of the King of Scotland depicted in Antonio Salvi's libretto into a single royal family, riven by the law of silence, secret secrets and jealousies. Christopher Moulds, a leading baroque music specialist, conducts this breathtaking, in camera drama in which a gilded youth confronts and tears itself apart with virtuoso vocalizations and sublime laments.