Introduction

Following the acclaimed co-productions of Handel's operas Rinaldo and Giustino with Lautten Compagney Berlin and Carlo Colla e Figli puppet theatre under the direction of Wolfgang Katschner (2004 Handel Prize winner), a third joint Handel opera production was due to be created for the 2021 festival. Due to the coronavirus pandemic, this had to be replaced by a digital format. The live premiere performance at the Handel Festival is now scheduled for 2022. The story is based on a scene from Ariosto's Orlando furioso and takes the audience to Scotland, where the young nobleman Ariodante has to fight a web of intrigue to win the young princess Ginevra. Ariodante is regarded as one of Handel’s musically most beautiful works and one of his clearest in terms of plot. In it, besides emotion-filled arias treating of love and madness he also offered the London audience a magnificent ballet. Lautten Compagney Berlin is one of the most renowned Baroque ensembles and has won numerous awards, including an ECHO Klassik. Thanks to Carlo Colla e Figli puppet theatre, this performance combines early music and traditional craftsmanship, stage magic and puppetry. The previous co-productions have shown that it is precisely subjects and imagery such as Scotland, contrasting light and shade and the world of chivalry that are ideally brought to life by puppets. Reporting on this Ariodante production, which was performed in Switzerland in 2021, Edith Fritschi wrote in the Schaffhauser Nachrichten: “Everything was just right: the music by Lautten Compagney, six great singers, marionettes in superb costumes and an enchanting stage set made Handel’s Ariodante a feast for the eyes and ears.”