Connecticut Lyric Opera to Present LA LIBERAZIONE DI RUGGIERO DALL'ISOLA D'ALCINA in November

Connecticut Lyric Opera, in association with its partner, Connecticut Virtuosi Chamber Orchestra, will present Italian Baroque composer Francesca Caccini's "La liberazione di Ruggiero dalla'isola d'Alcina'' on November 5 and 7. The opera, part daring action rescue and part mystic saga, is the first to be written by a woman.

"La liberazione di Ruggiero dalla'isola d'Alcina'' will be conducted by Adrian Sylveen, Artistic Director of Connecticut Lyric Opera and Connecticut Virtuosi Chamber Orchestra, and staged by Alan Mann, Artistic Director of Opera Theater of Connecticut.

Performances will be held Friday, November 5, at 7:30 p.m. at the Trinity-On-Main Arts Center in New Britain; and Sunday, November 7, at 2 p.m. at the Wadsworth Atheneum Museum of Art in Hartford. The Wadsworth performance is presented in association with the exhibition By Her Hand: Artemisia Gentileschi and Women Artists in Italy, 1500-1800.

The cast of "La liberazione di Ruggiero dall'isola d'Alcina" includes Rebecca Batista de Almeida (Alcina), Madison Marie McIntosh, (Melissa), Daniel Kamali? (Ruggiero), Maria Margiolakou (First Lady), Heather O'Connor (Second Lady), Allison Waggener (Third Lady), Samuel Bowen (Nettuno), Rongjun Li (First Tenor), and Sung Shin (Second Tenor).

Composer Francesca Caccini was the first woman to compose an opera and also the most well-paid musician at the height of her career in the 1620s. A masterful musician, she played guitar, lute, harp, and keyboard. She was also a poet and wrote in both Italian and Latin. "La liberazione di Ruggiero dall'isola d'Alcina" was commissioned by Florence's Regent Archduchess, Maria Magdalena of Austria. The opera was published under her auspices for the state occasion of the visit to Carnival by a Polish prince, Wladislas Sigismund, to celebrate his victory over the Turks. Composed by Caccini in 1625, it was also the first Italian opera to be presented in another country and is one of only a few of Caccini's works that is still available today.

Based on Orlando furioso, a romantic epic by 16th century poet Lodovico Ariosto, "La liberazione di Ruggiero dall'isola d'Alcina" tells the story of the heroic officer Ruggiero, who falls under the spell of the wicked sorceress Alcina. Ruggiero is eventually freed from Alcina's enchantments by Melissa, another sorceress working on behalf of his beloved, Officer Bradamante. In order to reveal Alcina's true nature to Ruggiero, Melissa takes on the guise of Atlas, the ancient sorcerer who raised him. Melissa also releases Alcina's former lovers from her enchantments, including Orlando - the character from Ariosto's poem who inspired Caccini's opera.

Tickets & Performances

Friday, November 5, 2021 @ 7:30 p.m. at Trinity-On-Main Arts Center, 69 Main Street, New Britain. Suggested ticket price: $35 @ www.thevirtuosi.ticketleap.com. For more information, visit www.thevirtuosi.org.

Sunday, November 7, 2021 @ 2 p.m., Wadsworth Atheneum Museum of Art, 600 Main Street, Hartford. Suggested ticket price: $35 @ www.thevirtuosi.ticketleap.com. For more information, visit www.thevirtuosi.org.