As he did with Ariodante and Alcina, Handel derives the germ of his plot of Orlando from an epic poem by Ariosto. In Ariosto's version Orlando is a soldier in Charlemagne's army who pines in typically unrequited fashion for Angelica, who in turn is in love with Medoro. In Handel's original conception, the entire opera is overseen in a fashion by the magician Zoroastre, whose prestidigitational propensities not only help create many fantasy tableaux in the otherwise more or less realistic proceedings, but who is able to magically coax Orlando from his madness.

In this rethought version, we get something that seems mostly be redolent of the World War I era. We initially see Orlando, as the prelude plays, having his weapon taken from him by a nurse. He later seems to be in some sort of hospital and Zoroastre is a doctor, perhaps a psychoanalyst, as he frequents a blackboard where a phrenological diagram is sketched in chalk. Orlando is an interesting piece, and one with a surprisingly modern bent, in part due to its emphasis on its title character's inner life. Orlando's madness is revealed in almost Stanislavskian moments, both musically and extra-musically, in a really riveting performance by Marijana Mijanovic (as in so many Baroque operas, especially those of Handel, the leading part was originally written for a castrato, in this case the famed Senesino).

If some of this rethinking doesn't actually click, especially with shepherdess Dorinda (the exquisite Christina Clark, who gives a beautifully fluid vocal performance) being recast as a nurse, it isn't as distracting as some purists may fear. What ultimately gives Orlando its energy is, after all, the emotions its emotionally wounded soldier is undergoing, and that can certainly be transferred to any number of time periods and conflicts.

This is a well sung performance all around, with Konstantin Wolff's towering bass making the most of Zoroastre's florid arias. If Medoro (Katharine Peetz) and Angelica (Martina Jankova) are pretty much ciphers, even in the original version, interchangeable with any of a host of other starcrossed lovers in scores of operas, both of the singers give admirable and lyrical performances here, making the most of some at times fairly paltry libretto writing. The good news is Handel's music is glorious and brilliantly diverse, and is stunningly played by the Zurich Opera's Orchestra La Scintilla under the able direction of William Christie, whose contributions to Les Arts Florissants make him an admirable choice for this production.

Orlando hasn't really risen to the top of Handel's oeuvre, and in fact was never revived after its initial brief run during Handel's own lifetime. The time is probably more than ripe for it now, with its penetrating analysis of love gone awry, especially under the auspices of battle. It may in fact be the first ever depiction of post traumatic stress disorder, and this interesting, if occasionally flawed, revision makes an often compelling case that madness, for better or worse, at least offers an escape from everyday terrors like love and war.

The Blu-ray

Video:
Orlando offers a nicely crisp 1.78:1 image delivered via an AVC codec, the norm for these ArtHaus Musik BDs. Colors are excellent and well saturated, if not eye popping (a lot of the costumes are in browns and grays, as are the massive sets). Detail, contrast and black levels are all excellent.

Sound:
Both of the soundtracks are superb, with the uncompressed PCM 2.0 and DTS HD-MA 7.1 offer excellent fidelity and really superb range. The 7.1 mix occasionally buries the singers a bit too deeply in the soundfield, but it's nothing too problematic. Christie guides the orchestra beautifully and Handel's expressive contrapuntal lines are delivered with outstanding clarity. Subtitles are available in English, Italian, German, Spanish and French.

Extras:
The only extra offered is a good essay in the insert booklet, giving background on Handel generally and the opera in particular.

Final Thoughts:
Orlando is a curiously introspective piece for a genre known for its florid extroversion. This particular production has some flaws in its reimaginings of various characters, but it's superbly sung, acted, and played, and even Handel purists will probably be swayed by those aspects and be willing to forgive its excesses. Recommended.

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