| Alcina | |
|---|---|
| Opera seria by George Frideric Handel | |
 George Frideric Handel, portrayed by Balthasar Denner, 1729 | |
| Language | Italian |
| Based on | Libretto of L'isola di Alcina |
| Premiere | 16 April 1735 Theatre Royal, Covent Garden, London |
Alcina (HWV 34) is a 1735 opera seria by George Frideric Handel. Handel used the libretto of L'isola di Alcina, an opera that was set in 1728 in Rome by Riccardo Broschi, which he acquired the year after during his travels in Italy.[1][2] Partly altered for better conformity, the story was originally taken from Ludovico Ariosto's Orlando furioso (like those of the Handel operas Orlando and Ariodante), an epic poem. The opera contains several musical sequences with opportunity for dance: these were composed for dancer Marie Sallé.
- ^ Dean 2006, p. 315
- ^ Nowadays the libretto is attributed to Antonio Fanzaglia.[1] [2] Archived 2012-04-07 at the Wayback Machine [3]