Handel’s musical genius and the fantastic story from Orlando furioso, the epic poem by Ludovico Ariosto that inspired the opera, made Alcina one of the Saxon composer’s most popular operas (along with Ariodante and Orlando, also based on the same great literary work) given at Covent Garden in 1735. 
 
David Alden chooses to adapt it in the teatro real to feature the witch Alcina. The story tells how the latter attracts the protagonists to her island to seduce them and transform them into elements of the landscape. The story continues to captivate audiences today with its subtle metaphors about the illusions created by love and passion.