When coming home is worse than battle: Handel's Orlando at the Teatro Real.

Madrid, November 6, 2023.

Two years after Partenope, another Handel opera is staged at the Teatro Real in Madrid. This time, it is the turn of Orlando, whose plot, based on another opera, L'Orlando, by Carlo Capece, goes back to Ludovico Ariosto's epic poem, Orlando Furioso, which also serves as the basis for the plots of his operatic masterpieces Alcina and Ariodante. However, this opera wasn't successful when premiered in 1733, with only 10 performances; remaining forgotten until its rediscovery in the 20th century. Today it is seen as one of Handel's most important operas, with an outstanding discography in modern times. The plot, despite being based on a classic epic, is still unusual in baroque opera: it tells the madness of a hero who discovers that love cannot be for him. This opera, rarely seen in Spain, was performed in Madrid four years ago, in a concert version by Il Pomo d'Oro in the internationally famous Universo Barroco (Baroque Universe) season at the Auditorio Nacional. Now, it is the Teatro Real that stages it with its own company.

Claus Guth makes an interesting parallel between the plot of this opera and present times. Many soldiers return from the front with several consequences to reprise their civilian lives, many of them suffering from psychological aftermath. Guth takes as a reference the Martin Scorsese's film "Taxi Driver, whose protagonist returns alienated and mentally ill from the Vietnam War, for his staging. On this occasion, the work is set in a modest apartment block, surrounded by palm trees and vegetation that suggest a coastal city. For this purposes, it uses a rotating stage that shows the ruined apartment where Orlando lives, a caravan that serves as a bar, the façade of the building, a staircase full of vegetation, and a bus stop, next to which there is a beer advertisement. Guth emphasizes the hero's madness, the self-destruction process of a soldier with post-traumatic stress. At his side, Zoroastro acts as his social worker, and as a drunken tramp who gets involved with the characters. Dorinda has a mobile bar, which she runs dressed as Snow White, and the lovers Angelica and Medoro try to live their love, here a torrid passion, in the middle of this sordid environment. As the action and madness of Orlando progress, an atmosphere of terror, with the protagonist self-harming and suffering hallucinations, permeates the scene. ROCAFILM's Roland Horvath's videos intensify this self-destruction with brilliant, dark  image projections.

Ivor Bolton, conducting the Teatro Real Orchestra, achieves a rendition that goes from less to more, from an acceptable overture, to achieving an inspired accompaniment, and with outstanding intervention of the viola.

Christophe Dumaux, the famous French countertenor, sings Orlando. This production requires great involvement not only musically, but also physically, since he has to jump, or self-harming while singing or reciting. His rendition of bravura arias such as Fammi Combattere is excellent, as well as his acting level. Anthony Roth Constanzo sings Medoro, with a louder voice than Dumaux's, excelling in the long and beautiful aria Verdi allori, where he also gave a beautiful, long and unforgettable pianissimo. Florian Boesch is Zoroastro, the magician who saves Orlando from the tragedy he is about to commit. If on an acting and interpretive level he is impeccable, on a vocal level he is sometimes insufficient, since for the authority of this character a little more bass voice is missing. His rendition of the aria Tra caligini profonde was unpleasant, not because of his singing, but because of the staging, which forces him to sing it as if he were drunk, alternating with some belching, and also with the moans from Angelica and Medoro who are having sex not far away. The female singers were as the best of the night, both Anna Prohaska with her excellent renditions of Angelica's arias, showing a skilled coloratura, as well as beautiful high notes; as Giulia Semenzato in the role of Dorinda, with a sweet voice and able of singing with dramatsm in arias such as Quando spieghi i tuoi tormenti.

Although the audience did not fill the hall, their enthusiasm was striking, applauding, even cheering, after many arias. In the end, they gave the cast an enthusiastic reception. This Orlando has turned out to be a pleasant surprise in this operatic season, in an enjoyable night with a notable cast and a breathtaking staging.

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