Haydn's Orlando Paladino
Nigel Lowery & Amir Hosseinpour (stage directors), René Jacobs (music director) – With Marlis Petersen (Angelica) and Pietro Spagnoli (Rodomonte) – Berliner Staatsoper
Cast
Nigel Lowery — Stage director
Amir Hosseinpour — Stage director
Marlis Petersen — Angelica
Pietro Spagnoli — Rodomonte
Tom Randle — Orlando
Magnus Staveland — Medoro
Sunhae Im — Eurilla
Program notes
Orlando Paladino, Haydn's greatest success in the genre of the opera, produced by Nigel Lowery and Amir Hosseinpour.
Joseph Haydn's Orlando Paladino owes its very existence to an event that never happened: the grand duke of Russia and his spouse were supposed to visit Esterháza. Willing to welcome lavishly these illustrious guests, the Prince Esterházy asked Haydn to compose an opera. Yet the princely couple changed their route. Caprice? Hitch? History does not say. Be that as it may, Haydn did compose his Orlando. The opera, premiered in 1782, were soon to be acclaimed as Haydn's greatest success in the genre of the opera.
Orlando Paladino is a heroic and comical drama inspired by Ludovico Ariosto's Orlando Furioso. Haydn combines gracefully epic adventures and unbridled love games. Two stage directors, Nigel Lowery and Amir Hosseinpour, foster the dynamic elements of the plot with lively details, accompanied by the Baroque music maestro, René Jacobs.
© Picture: Staatsoper Ruth Waltz
