Opera directed by Robert Carsen
‘Ariodante is pure exhilaration!’ (Raphaël Pichon)
How sweet life could be at the Scottish court! The king’s daughter, Ginevra, and Prince Ariodante love each other. Their marriage is soon to be celebrated. But this is without taking into account Polinesso’s diabolical plan. Thirsting for desire and power, he accuses the young woman of infidelity to tarnish her reputation and eliminate his rival.
Inspired by an episode from Ariosto’s Orlando furioso, George Frideric Handel created this opera seria at Covent Garden in 1735, brimming with sumptuous arias such as the famous lamento “Scherza infida”.
A connoisseur of the Baroque repertoire, Robert Carsen explores the characters’ psychology and reflects on power with a host of kilts, Celtic dances and nods to the current British royal family.
Coproduction with the Metropolitan Opera, New-York.
Ariodante was recorded by France Musique for broadcast on October 25, 2025, at 8 pm on the program ‘Samedi à l’Opéra’, presented by Judith Chaine, and will then be available for streaming on the France Musique website and the Radio France app.
press review
‘Double debuts, in the pit of the Paris Opera and in Handel’s dramma per musica, for Raphaël Pichon and his ensemble Pygmalion. As eagerly awaited as they were remarkable, they brought all their lustre to Robert Carsen’s revival of Ariodante, which an exceptional vocal cast brought to incandescence. . . . But what variety of nuances and colours, what subtlety in the curve of the line and the penetration of the affetti, and what constant quality of listening, weaving around the singers a setting perfectly tailored to them! . . . This is undoubtedly the best Handelian cast that the Paris Opera has assembled in ages!’ (Mehdi Mahdavi, Sep. 2025)
‘We have been waiting for Raphaël Pichon at the Paris Opera for years, and now he is here. An Ariodante that further establishes the young forty-something as one of the great conductors of our time.’ (Hugo Wintrebert, Sep. 2025)
‘The great triumph of the evening belongs to Raphaël Pichon, who made his debut tonight at the Paris National Opera and conducting a Handel opera. We are completely captivated by his constant energy and unfailing dramatic sense. From the very first chords of the French Overture, we are swept away by the conductor’s broad beat, which breathes life and tension into the drama. (…) The cast assembled this evening is simply dazzling.’ (Yves Jauneau, Sep. 2025)
‘Conductor Raphaël Pichon and his Ensemble Pygmalion were also triumphant on this highly acclaimed evening. From start to finish, their performance combined all the nobility expected of this music, without compromising its intensity, and vice versa. Each phrase is intense and supple, flowing with a lightness that draws on expressive variations in nuance while remaining at the service of the continuity of the discourse. An extremely appreciable and commendable quality is that the orchestra pit offers the vocal ensemble all the intentions and nuances required by the score, while always respecting the balance.’ (Charles Arden, Sep. 2025)
Dates
