Handel's Alcina

The sorceress Alcina lures knights to her enchanted island, transforms them into rocks, streams, and beasts, and discards each lover when she tires of them. Her latest captive is the knight Ruggiero, whose fiancée Bradamante arrives disguised as a man to break the spell. As Alcina's power crumbles and her illusions dissolve, she faces the devastating loss of both her magic and the only man she has truly loved. Handel's magnificent opera seria combines dazzling coloratura with surprisingly moving emotional depth.