![]() And the often-clever stage business that director Harry Fehr comes up with-a lot of tea is served from tea carts, as would happen in a British hospital- enlivens things nicely. It’s still thin and repetitive, but production designer Yannis Thavoris’s early ’40s-style revolving set is impressive. The story calls for lots of comings and goings, in and out of the set’s many doors, as Medoro and Angelica prepare to leave, and Orlando descends into a murderous rage. (Medoro can no longer walk without a cane.) Now, during a real war and a good fight, his attempts to get Orlando back into action make more sense. Dorinda is a nurse, and Zoroastro (bass-baritone Christian Van Horn) is the head doctor. ![]() In a brilliant move, this Scottish Opera production is set in a London military hospital during the Blitz ace flyer Orlando and his rival, Medoro, are both recuperating there. ![]() ![]() It’s wartime, and Orlando’s ardor is distracting him from military duty, so Zoroastro, a magician, is striving to turn the hero’s attention from love back to glory. Orlando is in love with Angelica (soprano Heidi Stober), but, as with most Baroque operas, there are complications: She fell in love with Medoro (countertenor Aryeh Nussbaum Cohen), who also is loved by Dorinda (soprano Christina Gansch). The plot of this 1733 “trouser opera,” in which a woman sings the male lead, focuses on a warrior-hero (mezzo-soprano Sasha Cooke). It’s good to see “Orlando,” one of the most famous of Handel’s 40-plus operas, in San Francisco again, especially since the vague Arcadian setting has been cleverly reimagined and updated. Handel’s Baroque Romance Enlivened by Exciting New Star
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