Alcina was first presented in London in 1735 in a new 1,900-seat theatre on the site of what is today the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden. It was an enormous success for Handel at a time when the fashion for Italian opera was waning in London. In fact, in the following years, Handel devoted far more time to English-language oratorios than to operas.
Jeremy Silver - placing the orchestra at the heart of the action
Handel’s orchestra for Alcina consists of a standard group of strings, a couple of oboes who also occasionally play on recorders (or early flutes) and a continuo group. In addition, to thrilling effect, he adds a pair of horns to Ruggiero’s act 3 aria Sta nell’ircana to bring the hunting metaphor to life. Always with an ear for colour and drama, Handel derives maximum contrast from the instruments at his disposal. For example, not all the strings play all the time, and when they do, Handel finely balances how often they play in unison or in harmony to alter the richness and expressiveness of the sound.
The composer also allows for occasional solos in the strings, further expanding what he can express: Morgana’s act 2 aria Ama, sospira has a virtuoso and rather demonic solo violin playing fast and high while her act 3 aria Credete al mio dolore benefits from a single cello playing a yearningly expressive melody while she vulnerably professes the depth of her love to Oronte.
For the last two seasons, Jenny Miller and I have placed the orchestra on the stage for both Rinaldo and Xerxes. While more usual to place the orchestra in a pit out of the sight-lines of the stage (indeed, Wagner in Bayreuth buried them completely under the stage) it is not unheard of to opt for alternative layouts. English National Opera’s last production of Nabucco placed the orchestra on stage relating directly with the singers, and many operas are presented unstaged in concert halls. If Wagner wanted the audience to forget that an orchestra was there and just bask in the sound that seems to be coming from nowhere, we want to revel in the fact that singers and players are engaged together in creating the magic and allow them maximum contact with each other.
For Alcina, the orchestra will not be entirely on stage, where they would necessarily have to be to one side of the stage to give enough room for acting space. Consistent with our wish to keep all performers together, we have decided to raise the level of the pit considerably, bringing the players and singers into relation with each other but preserving good sight-lines for the audience. One might worry that the higher the orchestra is, the louder they might sound, potentially obscuring the singing. However, my experience is different. An orchestra sunk deep into a pit quite often cannot hear the stage sufficiently and is entirely dependent on the conductor to keep the sound balanced and the co-ordination between singers and players accurate. Yet when everyone can hear and see each other, the performance becomes more like chamber music so that, not only does everyone naturally accompany everyone else but all performers can take the risk to phrase with more subtlety, secure in the knowledge that his or her colleagues will hear and respond instinctively.
Jeremy Silver, who will be conducting Alcina on 30 and 31 July, 2 and 4 August 2016
