Bampton Classical Opera's summer production will be a comedy by an Italian composer.
They will stage Giuseppe Gazzaniga's 'L’isola d’Alcina', with an English translation by Gilly French titled 'Alcina’s Island'.
Performances will be led by conductor, Thomas Blunt, and directed by Jeremy Gray.
It will be performed at The Deanery Garden in Bampton on July 19 and 20.
Loosely based on the character of the sorceress Alcina from Ariosto’s epic 'Orlando furioso', the comedic opera tells the story of an Englishman, Frenchman, Spaniard, Italian and German who get washed up on Alcina’s magical island.
They grapple with the seductive sorceress's charm, who has a habit of transforming discarded lovers into rocks or animals.
The Europeans are assisted by two charming but disloyal resident nymphs, with whom they eventually escape from the island.
Fun is made of the linguistic confusions of the shipwrecked group, in contrast to the passion and discontent of the ageless but perhaps weary sorceress.
The opera by Gazzaniga, who wrote more than 50 operas, was among his most successful.
His most famous work, 'Don Giovanni', has also been performed by Bampton in the past.
'L’isola d’Alcina' premiered in Venice in 1772 and had its last known performance in England in 1777.
The cast includes four singers returning to Bampton, including Sarah Chae, Owain Rowlands and Jonathan Eyers, while Inna Husieva, Charlotte Badham, Monwabisi Lindi, Simon Brown, and Magnus Walker are making their company debuts.
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