Performers
>Daniel Lager, counter tenor (Galafro)
>Roberta Invernizzi, soprano (Angelica)
>Susanne Rydén, soprano (Bradamante)
>Kai Wessel, counter tenor (Orlando)
>Franz Vitzthum, counter tenor (Ruggiero)
>Jörg Waschinski, soprano (Medoro)
>Wolf Matthias Friedrich, bass (Atlante)
Conductor
>Bernward Lohr
Ensemble
>Musica Alta Ripa
Composer
>Agostino Steffani (1654 - 1728)
Notes & Reviews:
At the end of the seventeenth century the rulers of the Duchy of Hanover, the Welph family, launched a cultural offensive and obtained the services of the Italian composer Agostino Steffani as court music director. Orlando generoso was Steffani's fourth opera. The libretto describes the conflict between personal emotionality and calculating power politics typical in the court society of the times: irreconcilable class differences plunge two lovers into madness. Steffani treats this theme with virtuosic and expressive vocal music. He combines Italian virtuosity and spontaneity with French elegance and refinement, thus creating his own, worldly tone.