Richly scored and tightly plotted, an all-star cast brings to life one of Handel’s finest operas, Ariodante.

Following her stunning appearance in Alcina in 2014, the latest instalment in our Handel opera series sees the return of Joyce DiDonato in the title role. Marking 500 years since the publication of Ludovico Ariosto’s Orlando furioso, a tale of knights and entangled love, Ariodante stands as Handel’s final opera on the subject after Alcina and Orlando.

‘Through it all, Bicket and The English Concert were nothing short of brilliant. Sporting perfectly tight ensemble, spacious and ringing tone, a variety of colors, gleaming strings and clean, forceful brass, they are the model of a period chamber orchestra in every sense. In stark contrast to the common failing of anemic-sounding historical ensembles, it was no trouble at all for them to summon up ferocious power for dramatic effect, and then cool off with aching sighs.’ – New York Classical Review

Other Blog Posts

Experiencing South Korea

Louise Hogan offers a wonderful insight into our recent tour to East Asia We are here with Sumi Jo, a star soprano the like of which we have never experienced.  One dress is

Handel vs the Opera of the Nobility

It’s easy to think of Handel as the all-conquering hero, arriving in London from his Italian adventures, and commanding the operatic scene for the rest of his life. While any passer-by on the streets

Wanted for murder

There are plenty of mysteries out there in the musical world: the two heads inside Haydn’s tomb, the enigma behind Elgar’s variations. But what of the gruesome murder of poor Jean-Marie Leclair (1697-1764)? From

Tainted love: the making of a monster

It’s the mother of all bad hair days for Scylla in Leclair’s only opera. Based on Ovid’s Metamorphoses, Scylla is just a nymph going about her business. Not especially interested in love, she rejects