HANDEL’S last great operatic success could almost be an 18th century version of I’m a Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here!

Alcina is a sorceress who has transformed by magic an arid island into a verdant tropical paradise. The enchantress bestows favours on the chosen ones lured to this idyllic oasis before turning her victims into animals or plants. Alcina’s current lover is the warrior knight Ruggiero (counter tenor Patrick Terry) who is utterly besotted.

So Ruggiero’s betrothed, the female knight Bradamante (mezzo soprano Mari Askvik) and her tutor Melissa (mezzo soprano Claire Pascoe) have arrived in search of the heroic knight. Bradamante is disguised as her own brother Ricciardo. Morgana, Alcina’s sister (soprano Fflur Wyn) dumps her lover, Oronte (tenor Nick Pritchard) and falls in love with the assumed Ricciardo. Confusing? At least, true love ultimately triumphs over sorcery.

Joan Sutherland’s famous portrayal of the title role in Franco Zeffirelli’s 1960 production in Venice, and two years later at Covent Garden, rekindled Alcina’s popularity.

Handel’s uncut score contains a staggering 148 arias and recitatives. Opera North’s conductor Laurence Cummings and production director Tim Albery have redacted some 45 minutes of music and they have reassigned the role of Melissa from baritone to mezzo soprano. The cuts may have produced a more practical structure but the reassignment of Melissa from baritone to mezzo soprano shifts the vocal balance.

Irish soprano Maire Flavin’s surprisingly vulnerable Alcina leads a fine cast. All of whom are accomplished Handel stylists, doubtless well schooled by Laurence Cummings in the art of ornamentation. Cummings both conducts and plays one of the two harpsichords. His belief that baroque music should dazzle or even disturb and shock the listener, is embodied in the vivid tapestry of sound emerging from the orchestra pit. A rainbow spectrum of colour from 32 members of the Orchestra of Opera North including strings, woodwind, horns, guitar, theorbos, and harpsichords.

Hannah Clark’s modern set and costume designs, beautifully lit by Matthew Richardson, are backed by Ian William Galloway’s continuous fly through video of mystery shrouded lush tropical forest. There are just three more opportunities to encounter Alcina at Leeds Grand Theatre - 8th,15th & 17th February.

Geoffrey Mogridge