Orlando review โ a confident romp through Handelโs flimsily plotted opera
Longborough Festival Opera, Moreton-in-Marsh Sinรฉad OโNeillโs production is persuasive and Beth Taylorโs performace as Orlando is extraordinary in this tale of unrequited love, madness and magic The woodland outside Longboroughโs theatre, deep in the Cotswolds, sneaks inside and on to the stage for its season-opening production of Orlando. With a story that sometimes seems little more than an excuse for a series of showpiece arias, itโs not an obvious choice for the festivalโs first Handel opera in a decade, but Sinรฉad OโNeillโs production has confidence in the work and is persuasive enough to lead us through. The flimsy plot comes from Ariostoโs poem Orlando Furioso. High-ranking warrior Orlando loves princess Angelica, but sheโs not interested; she loves Medoro. Low-ranking shepherdess Dorinda loves Medoro โ but he loves Angelica, see above. The usual baroque-opera love triangles and noble self-sacrifice are absent, and what we have instead is the stuff of school lunch-queue gossip. Someone hears words that werenโt meant for them and jumps to conclusions; someone else has unwisely given away a special bracelet. Then Orlando cracks: he has an extended, musically arresting mad scene and then goes on a murderous rampage thatโs cleared up by the presiding magician, Zoroastro, thus allowing for a happy ending. Continue reading...