Opera
Georg Friedrich Händel
Ariodante
02 Jun, 26
Concert version

One of the treasures of the opera repertoire, and also one of Handel's most delicate works, returns to the Teatro Real with La Cetra Barockorchester. Inspired by the epic poem Orlando Furioso, by Ludovico Ariosto, its score includes some of the most difficult da capo arias of the German composer’s to perform.
Opera seria in three acts
Music Georg Friedrich Händel (1685-1759)
Libretto anonymously, adapted from Antonio Salvi’s libretto Ginevra, principessa di Scozia (1708), after Ludovico Ariosto’s poem Orlando furioso, Cantos IV and VI (1532)
Concert version
Conductor
Andrea Marcon
Cast
Ariodante
Magdalena Kozena
Ginevra
Erika Baikoff
Dalinda
Shira Patchornik
Polinesso
Christophe Dumaux
Lurcanio
Emiliano González Toro
King of Scotland
José Antonio López
La Cetra Barockorchestre Basel
Synopsis and more information
Ginevra, the daughter of the King of Scotland, is courted by Polinesso, but she is in love with Ariodante and has become engaged to him. Polinesso, seeking revenge on Ariodante, takes advantage of the unrequited love felt him by Dalinda, Ginevra's maid, convincing her to dress in Ginevra's clothes and let him into the royal quarters. Ariodante goes to his rendezvous with Ginevra that night and is so devastated by what he sees that he throws himself off a cliff into the sea. Ariodante's brother, Lurcanio, has secretly witnessed the scene and tells everything to the king, who condemns his daughter to death for faithlessness. But Ariodante has not died and he meets Dalinda in the forest. Disillusioned with Polinesso, she decides to tell him about the deception he has plotted. To defend Ariodante's honour, Lurcanio challenges Polinesso to a duel and kills him. Ariodante appears to save Ginevra from death and clarify everything before the king.
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02 June 2026
19:00
Main Auditorium
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