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© Benjamin Chelly
Orlando
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 September 2026 | ||||||
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ORLANDO – Georg Friedrich Händel 1685-1759 | Concert version
Opera in three acts
Anonymous libretto, based on Carlo Sigismondo Capece’s libretto for
L’Orlando, ovvero La gelosa pazzia
and on Ludovico Ariosto’s poem Orlando furioso
Orlando, in praise of madness in the Age of Enlightenment
Premiered on 27 January 1733 at the King's Theatre, Haymarket in London, this composition marks Handel's reaction as an entrepreneur to the bankruptcy in 1728 of the Royal Academy of Music, an institution for which he had worked for the previous ten years. The rewriting of Carlo Sigismondo Capece’s libretto based on Ludovico Ariosto's Orlando furioso (1533), confirmed a trend already begun in previous works, both in the decision to adopt a text that had already been set to music (by Alessandro Scarlatti in 1711) and in the elimination of secondary characters and the inclusion of fantastic settings. This was guaranteed by the choice of the leading character, a crusader knight of Charlemagne, driven mad by love for his lady Angelica and brought back to his senses by an ‘enlightened’ magician with a philosophical name, Zoroaster; a completely invented character who introduces notes of rationalism in vogue at that point in the 18th Century and acts, in his magical guise, as the final deus ex machina.
This season, Marc Minkowski is extending his collaboration with Les Arts thanks to the return of his period instrument orchestra Les Musiciens du Louvre. Following the unforgettable previous evenings of Mitridate and Alcina, it is now the turn of Handel's Orlando, performed in concert by outstanding voices such as that of the young French mezzo Aude Extrémo, whose opulent dark timbre is ideal for the tragic and passionate temperament of the protagonist. The compassionate yet firm Angelica, who rejects Orlando's love, is played by soprano Ana María Labin, a highly regarded Baroque and Mozart performer and regular collaborator with Minkowski. Her beloved Medoro is played by Ukrainian countertenor Yuriy Mynenko - an expert in Handel's operas - which he has performed at the Salzburg Festival and the Concertgebouw.
Program and cast
Conductor: Marc Minkowski
Orlando - Aude Extrémo
Angelica - Ana Maria Labin
Medoro - Yuriy Mynenko
Dorinda - Alina Wunderlin
Zoroastro - Edward Jowle
Les Musiciens du Louvre
Palau de les Arts Reina Sofía
The Palau de les Arts Reina Sofía is a majestic building designed by the Valencian architect Santiago Calatrava. Its sculpted form is highly symbolic.
The innovative architecture of this 40.000 square metre building -75 metres high-, accommodates four venues for opera, music, ballet and theatre.
Platforms project at different levels with passage ways and Mediterranean gardens. Access to the different areas is provided by means of panoramic lifts and staircases situated inside the metal sides of the building. The contrast between the opaque sheet metal structure and the glass foyers produce ever-changing sensations when walking about the building.
The metal plume, planted on the footbridge at the main entrance of the Palau de les Arts, seems to float over the structure. This elevated footbridge can be reached by two different stairways, it is 56 metres long and it is situated at the western end of the building. From the main entrance, where the Box Office is located, two symmetrical corridors lead to the lobby of the Main Concert Hall.
Only one point of support sustains the plume over the almond-shaped building, leaving the eastern end of the feather floating in mid-air, defying gravity.
Fine white concrete covers the large metal structural supports of the building, while broken mosaic tile (trencadís) has been used to decorate the outer shells, walls and reflecting pools of the Palau.
The Palau is surrounded by more than 60.000 square metres of gardens, pathways, and 11.000 square metres of water in the reflecting pools below.
How to get here
Adress: Av. del Professor López Piñero, 1, Quatre Carreres, 46013 València, Valencia, Spania
Transport públic
Bus: EMT lines: 1, 13, 15, 19, 25, 35, 40, 95 i 99.
More information
Underground: The nearest stop is Ciutat Arts i Ciències – Justícia (line 10). Also, you can use the stop Alameda (lines 3 and 5) and it is a 20-minute walk through the Turia gardens.
Taxi
Taxi stand at Plaza Monteolivete
Bike
Valenbisi, with stations in Avda. de La Plata (Museo Fallero) and Autopista del Saler- Puente de Monteolivete
Nearest parking
Parking L’Umbracle
The nearest parking is placed at L’Umbracle, also inside the City of Arts and Sciences. This parking has capacity for 665 cars and 25 buses.
Accesibility
The four venues of Palau de les Arts Reina Sofía have areas exclusively enabled for people who require the use of wheelchairs.
These seats are not included in the general sales and cannot be reserved: their use is established following the order of request. In the case of people with a recognized degree of disability, and who need to be accompanied by another person, both the holder and the companion may benefit from the promotions aimed at this group.
Likewise, the theatre provides a wheelchair support service, from and to the main entrance of the building in Avenida López Professor Piñero. This service must be requested one week before the performance.
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