Buxton Opera Festival 2023: Orlando - a tale of love, madness and magic

Orlando is a tale of love, madness and magic. A great hero and a humble shepherdess each fall in love with someone impossible and after misunderstanding and suffering all is made right in the end with the help of the wizard Zoroastro.

By Mavis Kirkham

Published 12th Jul 2023, 11:53 BST

Updated 12th Jul 2023, 17:38 BST

Orlando (Christian Joel) and Zoroastro (Jolyon Loy) in Buxton International Festival's Orlando. Photo by David John King

The singing of all five performers was excellent, as was the music.

This production by Liberata Collective with Ensemble Hesperi was probably as near as can now be seen to the opera in Handel's time.

As well as the period instruments and the relatively plain set, the singers all used authentic Baroque gestures. This was the language of gesture, stance and positioning on stage which was used to tell the story of an opera long before subtitles existed and when weighty costumes limited singers’ movements. This language of gesture made the plot visual and certainly added a new perspective to an excellent performance.

A really interesting and enjoyable production.

Orlando Handel