Handel’s ‘Amadigi di Gaula’

Handel’s fifth opera, Amadigi di Gaula was first performed in London in 1715, in the first season under the reign of George I, at the King’s Theatre on the Haymarket.

Amadigi di Gaula is an exuberantly inventive work with brilliant musical ideas full of youth, love and magic. The sorceress Melissa loves the knight Amadigi. But he loves Oriana, who in turn is coveted by Amadigi’s friend and rival Dardano. The four figures stumble around in a labyrinth of deceptive images and feelings and run the risk of losing not only their way, but above all themselves. Hurt and filled with hate, Melissa uses all her magical powers to destroy the love Amadigi and Oriana have for one another. She plots, lies, begs, flatters and threatens death and torture. But love is victorious in the end.

The opera is a work of extraordinary beauty, where Handel’s music captures a whirlwind of youthful emotion. His inventive score, rich with brilliant orchestral colours and dramatic arias, perfectly portrays the characters’ passion, jealousy, and despair. From lyrical laments to dazzling vocal fireworks, every note serves to amplify the raw human drama at the heart of this magical opera.

Based on Amadis de Grèce, a French tragédie-lyrique by André Cardinal Destouches and Antoine Houdar de la Motte.

Sung in Italian with English side-titles.