Furioso, 2-3 September 2023, Te Auaha, Wellington (part of Classical on Cuba)

A cycle of three ‘mini-operas’ by The Queen’s Closet – half-hour-long condensations of three operas based on Ludovico Ariosto’s 16th-century epic poem, Orlando Furioso

Part 1: La Liberazione di ruggiero dall’isola d’alcina – Francesca caccini (1625)

  • Alcina (a notorious enchantress) – Rowena Simpson
  • Ruggiero (a knight enslaved by Alcina) – John Beaglehole
  • Melissa (Alcina’s nemesis) – Helene Page
  • Chorus (damsels, sirens, minor gods, etc.) – Anna Sedcole, Toby Gee, Herbert Zielinski, Mark Bobb
  • Violin – Gordon Lehany
  • Cornetto – Peter Reid
  • Sackbut – Peter Maunder
  • Recorders – Sharon Lehany, Gordon Lehany
  • Cello – Sam Berkahn
  • Harpsichord – Thomas Nikora
  • Guitar – Peter Maunder
  • Narrator – Will Brotherson

Part 2: Roland – jean-baptiste lully (1685)

  • Angelique (a lovely princess) – Anna Sedcole
  • Medor (the object of Angelique’s affections) – Toby Gee
  • Roland (Orlando) (a knight in love with Angelique) – Mark Bobb
  • Chorus (fairies, etc.) – Rowena Simpson, Helene Page, John Beaglehole, Keith Small
  • Violins – Gordon Lehany, Thomas Bedggood, Antonia Grant
  • Viola – Sam Berkahn
  • Cello – Jane Young
  • Hoboys – Sharon Lehany, Rebecca Grimwood
  • Harpsichord – Thomas Nikora
  • Guitar – Peter Maunder
  • Narrator – Will Brotherson

part 3: orlando furioso – antonio vivaldi (1714, with some arias from his 1728 revision) – and the sinfonia from Niccolò Porpora’s cantata, L’Angelica (1720)

  • Orlando (Roland) (a famous knight driven mad with love) – Mark Bobb
  • Astolfo (another knight, and Orlando’s best friend) – Keith Small
  • Alcina (a notorious enchantress) – Rowena Simpson
  • Angelica (the unrequited object of Orlando’s affections) – Anna Sedcole
  • Medoro (the love of Angelica’s life, and rival to Orlando) – Toby Gee
  • Chorus – Helene Page, John Beaglehole, Herbert Zielinski
  • Horns – Gordon Lehany, Peter Reid
  • Trumpets – Gordon Lehany, Peter Reid
  • Hoboys – Sharon Lehany, Rebecca Grimwood
  • Violins – Gordon Lehany, Thomas Bedggood, Antonia Grant
  • Viola – Sam Berkahn
  • Cello – Jane Young
  • Harpsichord – Thomas Nikora
  • Guitar – Peter Maunder
  • Narrator – Will Brotherson
Vintage illustration from the story Orlando Furioso. Ruggiero and his Hippogriff watching over the army. Orlando Furioso (The Frenzy of Orlando) an Italian epic poem by Ludovico Ariosto, illustrated by Gustave Dore. The story is also a chivalric romance which stemmed from a tradition beginning in the late Middle Ages.

With special thanks to: