Tornami a vagheggiar

THE SONGBIRD: Luciana Serra was born in Genoa in 1946, made her debut in Budapest in 1966, and gained international attention as a brilliant Olympia in the "Tales of Hoffmann" in London at The Royal Opera (14 performances from 1980 to 1982). Serra's career took off and she sang the Queen of the Night and all of the well-known bel canto heroines in the major opera houses and festivals around the world. However, she also had a special affinity for headlining the casts of obscure florid Italian operas of the 18th and 19th Century. I'm not aware of Serra ever singing the complete role of Alcina, but she did include Morgana's aria in her recital programs including this recital in the Piazza del Papa in Ancona, Italy on August 6, 1981 with Goffredo Miglietta as her accompanist. [Note: this is a different performance from the one in 1982 posted on YT, accompanied by Leone Magiera.]

THE MUSIC: I'm posting various singers doing the arias for the two leading sopranos in "Alcina" -- this is Morgana's second aria of four arias.

"Alcina" was composed for Handel's first season at Covent Garden in London and premiered in 1735. The opera soon fell into obscurity and was not performed again until a production in Leipzig in 1928, followed by occasional revivals and recordings have since grown the opera's reputation; today it is one of Handel's most popular and widely produced. It's one of Handel's "magic" operas with sorcery and spells woven throughout the plot. Alcina and Morgana are sisters and both sorceresses who fall in love with mortals who trick them. Morgana ends Act One with one of the opera's best known arias, the bravura "Tornami a vagheggiar" where she emphatically reaffirms her love for Ricciardo, a knight who is actually a woman, Bradamante, in disguise.