ALCINA

“Green meadows, cheerful forests, your attraction will not last. When the glory has passed, one will look again into the abyss with horror and fear.” Antonio Fanzaglia, libretto to Alcina

These words of Ruggiero, who has fallen in love with the sorceress Alcina and is now freed from this magic by his fiancé Bradamante, mark the difference between two worlds of love that we still find in our society today: the magical, passionate and sensual Love and everyday civic love built on vows and shaped by fidelity and responsibility. Alcina, through its magic, allows us to create an island where the wonderful and the sensual find their place. She transforms people into a different form, making them part of her magic island. However, Alcina longs for a kind of love in which loyalty and responsibility come into their own and not just sensual magic. Alcina falls in love with Ruggiero and thus loses her magical powers. The liberation of the people from the magic of Alcina lead to the sinking of the magic island. The everyday, unimaginative and non-sensuous world has prevailed.

This production is a continuation of a master class “Baroque Performance Art” under the artistic direction of the internationally renowned soprano Gemma Bertagnolli (Conservatorio di Milano) and Ferdinand von Bothmer (Gustav Mahler Private University of Music Klagenfurt) with the CMA Ossiach. Students of the GMPU, as well as musicians from the Alma Mahler Musikverein under the direction of Torsten Böselhör, will perform excerpts from the opera “Alcina” by George Frideric Handel in the Baroque Hall of the Ossiach Abbey in the form of a concert .

Georg Friedrich Händel „Alcina“

Musical Director: Torsten Übelhör

Overall artistic direction: Ferdinand von Bothmer

Musical assistance: Alja Klemenc

Instrumental ensemble: Alma Mahler Musikverein

Singing ensemble: students in the singing classes of Prof. Francka Šenk and Ferdinand von Bothmer at the Gustav Mahler Private University of Music Klagenfurt.