Johannes Leiacker, Alcina

Alcina is an opera by George Frideric Handel to an anonymous Italian libretto, inspired by the libretto of the opera l’Isola di Alcina by Riccardo Broschi. The opera premiered on 16 April 1735 at the new Covent Garden theatre in London obtaining a great success, especially thanks to the topic, being the opera based on Ariosto’s Orlando furioso, and to the numerous scenes of magic for which the new theatre was very well equipped.

The character Alcina is a sorceress who seduces nobles and knights and then turns them into plants, animals, and stones.

Christof Loy presents an Alcina in which the initial baroque setting, including theatrical machinery, splendid costumes, and typical cloudy sceneries, slowly turn into the normality of contemporary lives, along with the  failing of Alcinas spells.

Set designer Johannes Leiacker has brilliantly rendered a typical baroque setting with cloud shaped legs and borders while the uplifted stage reveals the machinery below it effectively rendering the splendour of baroque scenography.

Johannes Leiacker is a German set designer who first trained as a carpenter and then studied painting, sculpture, graphic design and set design. He has worked internationally for major theatre and opera companies and he regularly collaborates with important stage directors.