Stage Director

Orlando is obsessively in love with Angelica and tries with all his might to win her over. This causes the wizard Zoroastro concern, as Orlando is neglecting his duty as a warrior. When Orlando finds out that Angelica is in love with the soldier Medoro instead of him, he goes mad with jealousy, hallucinates a descent into the underworld and resolves to destroy everything and everyone. Will Zoroastro achieve his goal and get Orlando back onto the “right path”?

Orlando

Cologne Opera

Orlando, written based on the libretto by Carlo Sigismondo Capece for L'Orlando, overo, La gelosa pazzia by Domenico Scarlatti (1717), which is in turn based on Orlando Furioso by Ludovico Ariosto (1532), is the first of three operas by the English composer of German origin based on the epic poem, and was composed for the Royal Academy of Music in 1733. This year, Rafael R. Villalobos has been commissioned to create a new opera production, and he will return to Peralada to direct another Handelesque work. In honour of the occasion, the festival brings together a cast of acclaimed voices, including countertenor Xavier Sabata (Orlando), soprano Sabina Puértolas (Angelica), baritone Jose Antonio López (Zoroastro), Marie Lys (Dorinda) and Eve-Maud Hubeaux (Medoro). They will be accompanied by the Baroque music ensemble Vespres d’Arnadí, conducted by Dani Espasa from the harpsichord. The young, accomplished regista from Seville focuses the plot on the love triangle between Angelica, Medoro and Dorinda, three characters usually played by women. Drawing links to Orlando: A Biography (1928) by Virginia Woolf, and The Hours, Michael Cunningham's 1999 Pulitzer Prize winning novel that was brought to the big screen by Stephen Daldry, Villalobos delves into Orlando as “an intimate array of characters, especially the trio of female protagonists, who are under the constant shadow of the hero onto whom they project their own desires”. This bright, musical performance plays with literary and cinematic references, and aims to capture the essence of the world created by the Bloomsbury Group and their influence on contemporary culture.

In masks and costumes, the characters in Verdi’s opera try to conceal their identities or to construct alternative ones. The powerholder Riccardo does so in order to avoid those plotting against him, his friend Renato to escape unrecognized, Renato’s wife Amelia to hide her love for Riccardo from her husband, the guests at the masked ball to enjoy playing with beautiful appearances.

Stage Director

Rafael R. Villalobos

Events

Upcoming events

Mar 29 - Apr 6, 2026

Un ballo in maschera · Staatsoper Berlin

Past events

Nov 17 - Dec 8, 2024

Orlando · Oper Köln

Jul 30, 2021

Orlando · Festival Castell de Peralada

About

Rafael R. Villalobos hasn't added a bio