Hila Fahima

The theatre masterpiece by Antonin Dvořák, written in 1900, is a recurrent title on the season programmes of major European and American theatres. Strangely enough, it has never been performed at La Scala. The ambiguous fairy tale about a nymph who takes human form for the love of a prince who will betray her and only repent at death is fertile ground for the much awaited return of Emma Dante, whose career took wing precisely at La Scala with a felicitous production of Carmen. Making their debuts Piermarini’s auditorium, on the other hand, are the director of the Welsh National Opera Tomáš Hanus, a specialist in this repertoire, while Olga Bezsmertna will be in the title role.

It is a work charged with jealousy and intrigue, with struggles and betrayal: Ariodante, Handel’s first work for the then brand new Theatre Royal in Covent Garden. At that time, the composer was faced with fierce competition, was financially stricken and on the rocks. However, he plucked up his courage while taking the waters and wrote the opera, basing it on Ariosto’s epic poem Orlando furioso. And he composed varied, colourful music, including the intimate aria “Scherza infida”, which is considered one of the special highlights of Handel’s oeuvre to this day.