25.11.2021

SABINE DEVIEILHE - as Morgana in Händel's "Alcina" in Paris

The history of opera has never ceased to be haunted by temptresses bewitching men. Alcina is no exception: she seduces her victims to the point where they forget their own homeland. Is it a risk of perverted love or the delights of unbridled passion? Beyond the supernatural, Handel’s stroke of genius was to portray Alcina as a woman who suffers: profoundly human and touching.

After her success at the Opéra National in Paris in Rameau's Les Indes Galantes, Sabine Devieilhe takes on the role of Morgana in the revival of Robert Carson's production, the curious and life-hungry sister of the sorceress Alcina who knows nothing but the magic island. Bradamante brings variety to her world and inspires her. The intrusion of the real world is like a wake-up call for Morgana, causing her to long for change.

Sabine Devieilhe’s etherical, yet colourful and substantive coloratura soprano might have been created to make the wonderful coloratura cascades in Rameau’s arias resound. At the same time, her voice has the requisite warmth, drawing on a great palette of colours and emotions.

Georg Friedrich Händel: Alcina

Jeanine de Bique, Alcina
Gaëlle Arquez, Ruggiero
Sabine Devieilhe, Morgana
Roxana Constantinescu, Bradamante
Rupert Charlesworth, Oronte
Nicolas Courjal, Melisso

Thomas Hengelbrock, conductor
Robert Carsen, stage director
Tobias Hoheisel, stage and costumes
Philippe Giraudeau, choreographer
Jean Kalman, light
Ian Burton, dramaturge

Balthasar Neumann Ensemble
Chor der l’Opéra national de Paris