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21M.013J The Supernatural in Music, Literature and Culture Spring 2009
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Alcina (HWV 34), George Frideric Handel (1 685-1759)
The librettist of Alcina is unknown, but the story derives from a portion of the epic poem Orlando furioso by Ludovico Ariosto (1474-1533). At the point when the opera begins, the heroic knight Ruggiero (mezzo-soprano) has been carried away by a flying horse to an enchanted island where the sorceress Alcina (soprano) lives with her sister Morgana (soprano). The temptress Alcina seduces every knight who lands on her island but soon grows tired of her lovers and turns them into beasts, stones, or trees. Bradamante (mezzo-soprano), who is betrothed to Ruggiero, disguises herself in her brother Ricciardo's armor and searches for Ruggiero, accompanied by the philosopher Melisso (bass).
Act 1 Bradamante (disguised as Ricciardo) and Melisso arrive on the enchanted island and meet Morgana, who instantly falls in love with "Ricciardo," abandoning her former lover Oronte (tenor). They arrive at Alcina's palace where they find Ruggiero completely subdued by Alcina's seductive enchantment. In the passionate aria Di' cor mio, Alcina asks her lover to welcome the travelers to her domain. A young boy named Oberto (soprano) arrives and asks the newcomers if they have heard news of his father Astolfo, who shipwrecked near the island. Bradamante correctly guesses that Alcina has turned Oberto's father into a wild beast. When they are left alone with Ruggiero, Bradamante and Melisso rebuke him for his desertion, but Ruggiero can think only of Alcina. Oronte enters in a rage and accuses "Ricciardo" of stealing Morgana away from him. Morgana enters to stop the fight, and Bradamante recalls her own frustrated love. Oronte releases his anger by tormenting Ruggiero with a lie, claiming that Alcina has abandoned Ruggiero for "Ricciardo." Ruggiero confronts Alcina, who truthfully denies the claim. In order to calm Ruggiero, Alcina decides to turn "Ricciardo" into a wild beast. Morgana finds her beloved "Ricciardo" and warns him to flee. In her famous aria Toi-nami a vagheggiar she asks "Ricciardo" to return to her some day.
Act 2 Melisso disguises himself as Ruggiero's childhood tutor Atlante and convinces Ruggiero to wear a magic ring of perception. When he dons the ring, Ruggiero instantly sees past Alcina's sorcery and remembers Bradamante. Melisso instructs him to escape from Alcina under the premise that he desires to hunt. Bradamante reveals herself to Ruggiero, who cannot believe his eyes and fears that Alcina is tricking him with a false vision of his beloved. Bradamante leaves, furious at Ruggiero's disbelief (aria Vorrei vendicarmi). Alcina is ready to invoke the spell that will turn "Ricciardo" into a wild beast, but Ruggiero enters and prevents her. He says she has convinced him that her love is true, but that he longs to hunt for game. As Ruggiero leaves for the hunt, Oberto enters. Feeling sorry for the boy, Alcina promises him that he will soon see his father. Oronte interrupts to bring Alcina news of Ruggiero's escape, and the scorned sorceress delivers the famous aria Ah! Mio cor! It is evident that her love for Ruggiero is genuine. Morgana overhears a Bradamante and Ruggiero planning their escape and becomes outraged at "Ricciardo's" deceit. With bittersweet melancholy, Ruggiero reflects on the beautiful enchanted island in the pensive aria Verdi prati. Alcina invokes her sorcery to prevent Ruggiero's escape. However, for the first
time, her magic fails because she has learned to feel true human emotions. Handel Iportrays the failure of Alcina's power by silencing the orchestra during her incantation.
Act 3 Now that "Ricciardo" is gone, Morgana returns to her former lover Oronte, but he spurns her for her inconstancy. Alcina runs into Ruggiero and swears that she will remain loyal to him even though he is forsaking her. With Melisso's council, Ruggiero and Bradamante defeat the monsters that prevent their escape. When Oronte brings the news to Alcina she is distraught and desires only oblivion (aria Mi restano le lagrime). Her . devastation turns to anger, which she takes out on the boy Oberto. She gives Oberto a spear and commands him to kill a lion, which is actually the boy's father. Oberto sees through Alcina's trickery and berates her (aria Barbara!). Ruggiero enters with Bradamante. They scorn Alcina even though she declares her compassion for them (trio Non è amor, ne' gelosia). Before his departure with Bradamante, Ruggiero smashes the urn that is the source of Alcina's magical power. A chorus of people who had been enslaved as wild beasts, rocks, bushes, and ocean waves rejoice at their new freedom. George Frideric Handel (1 685-1759) Ellen T. Harris Alcina
Opera seria: "serious opera"; the dominant form of opera from the late 17th century through much of the 1 8th; the texts are mostly based on history or epic and involve ethical or moral dilemmas affecting political and personal relationships that normally find resolution by the end
Recitative:"recitation"; the dialogue or "spoken" part of the text, set to music that reflects the speed and intonation of speech; normally it is "simple" recitative, accompanied by a simple bass accompaniment; rarely in moments of great tension there can be additional orchestral accompaniments as in the incantation scene for Alcina (such movements are called "accompanied recitative")
Aria: the arias in opera seria are overwhelmingly in one form where two stanzas of text are set in the pattern ABA; that is, the first section is repeated after the second; during this repetition, the singer is expected to ornament the vocal line to create an intensification of emotion
Formal units: individual scenes are normally set up so that a recitative section of dialogue, argument, confrontation, or even monologue leads to an aria in which one of the characters expresses his or her emotional state at that moment in the drama and then exits; this marks the end of the scene; scenes are often demarcated at the beginning by the entrance of one or more characters; entrances and exits are arranged so that by the final scene in a "set" (as defined by the scenic backdrop) only a single character is left on stage, and the set ends after his or her exit; the most desirous positions for an aria are the ends of the first and second acts, as these are especially highlighted moments
Today's excerpts: "Tornami vagheggiar"sung by Morgana (Alcina's sister) about "Ricciardo,"the apparently newest knight to arrive on the magic island who is actually Ruggiero's beloved in male disguise; Morgana's quick capitulation to "love" and her pursuit and flirtation with Ricciardo provides some indication of the way in which the knights are toyed with before Alcina changes them into trees, rocks or wild beasts; this is the final aria of Act I.
"Ama, sospira"sung by Morgana; in the preceding recitative she has stopped Alcina in the middle of her conjuration to change Ricciardo into a wild beast; in the aria she speaks of Ricciardo to both Ruggiero and Alcina, saying to the one that Ricciardo is no threat (which Ruggiero already knows, as Bradamante has revealed herself) and to the other that he is in love but not with Alcina; this is a moment of semi-comic release after the recognition scene between Bradarnante and Ruggiero in Act II. "Ah, mio cor" sung by Alcina at the moment she recognizes that Ruggiero is breaking free from her; note how the aria includes a strong disjunction between the A and B sections; the A section depicts her heartache; the B section her attempt to goad herself into action against Ruggiero, which failing, she sinks back into heartache.
"Ombre pallide" sung by Alcina, is preceded by her incantation summoning her evil spirits who fail to respond to her; Alcina's love for Ruggiero has compromised her supernatural power, and this aria, which ends Act II, demonstrates its loss.