La Liberazione
Opera by Francesca Caccini (1625)
Premiere July 30 2026
This summer, three of Sweden’s leading Baroque singers take to the stage at Confidencen that, in collaboration with Den Andra Operan, proudly presents Francesca Caccini’s landmark work La liberazione di Ruggiero dall’isola d’Alcina (1625). Court Singer Ann Hallenberg as the powerful Alcina, mezzo-soprano Kristina Hammarström as her challenger Melissa, and tenor Martin Vanberg as the enchanted Ruggiero.
In La Liberazione, we meet the knight Ruggiero, trapped by his own enchantment on Alcina’s island—a realm where reality bends to her will and where desire and power are tightly interwoven. When the sorceress Melissa, disguised as Ruggiero’s mentor Atalante, arrives to bring him back to his true path, Alcina’s dominion is threatened. What unfolds is a charged duel between two commanding women—two distinct embodiments of strength, freedom, and longing. When Melissa’s magic finally breaks the spell, Alcina’s world collapses, and Ruggiero escapes from a kingdom where passion, power, and independence were allowed to flourish only for a brief moment.
Director Jacopo Spirei on the work:
“La Liberazione is far more than a rescue tale. What strikes me is the fierce duel between Alcina and Melissa, two women who bend reality in radically different ways. Their clash exposes the cost of desire, the fragility of power, and the moment when illusion shatters into truth. In our production, we dive straight into that tension, where liberation is never simple and every victory leaves a shadow.”
Confidencen Opera & Music Festival 2026 – Female Edition is a co-production between Confidencen and Den Andra Operan (AnOther Opera).
Creative Team & Contributors
Composer: Francesca Caccini
Libretto: Ferdinando Saracinelli
Musical Director: Peter Spissky
Director: Jacopo Spirei
Set & Costume Design: Bente Rolandsdotter
Lighting Design: Giuseppe di Iorio
Musicologist: Holger Schmitt-Hallenberg
Cast
Alcina: Ann Hallenberg
Melissa: Kristina Hammarström
Ruggiero: Martin Vanberg
Sirena/Damigella: Minna Tägil
Nunzia: Lovisa Huledal
Vistola Fiume/Pastore: Joseph Mossop
Singers from Young Artist Program – Coro delle piante incantate, m.m.
Confidencen Opera & Music Festival Orchestra
Performance duration: approx. 2 hours including interval
Premiere: 30 July 2026
Performance dates: 30 July Premiere!, 1, 2, 4, 6, 8, 9, 11, 13, 15 & 16 August
During the performance period, audience events such as opera introductions will also be offered.
The production is sung in the original Italian with projected Swedish surtitles.
La Liberazione has received funding from The Swedish Arts Council, The Swedish Art Grants Committee, Region Stockholm and The Signatur Foundation.
Vivaldiana – The Virtuosi of Vivaldi’s Orchestra
10 August 19:00
Antonio Vivaldi was maestro di violino at the girls’ conservatory Il Pio Ospedale della Pietà, where he led an orchestra made up of young women, many of whom became highly accomplished instrumentalists.
In this year’s edition of the Young Artist Program, we explore the young female virtuosos who performed in Vivaldi’s orchestra and present music from his most beloved operas and instrumental repertoire.
Performers
Singers of the Confidencen Young Artist Program
Confidencen Baroque Orchestra Academy
Musical direction: Peter Spissky
Femmina forte – A Jubilee Tribute
12 August at 19:00
The Confidencen Opera & Music Festival celebrates the women composers of the Baroque with a glittering selection of opera arias honouring queens, amazons, and heroines. Ann Hallenberg, Kristina Hammarström and Martin Vanberg give voice to the operatic works of Camilla de Rossi, Maria Antonia Walpurgis, Maria Rosa Coccia, Maria Teresa Agnesi Pinottini and Wilhelmine von Bayreuth, in music that is virtuosic, vibrant, and full of festive brilliance.
Femmina forte marks Den Andra Operan’s anniversary concert and offers insights into ten years of exploring the rich legacy of women in opera.
Performers
Singers: Ann Hallenberg, Kristina Hammarström & Martin Vanberg
Musicians from the Confidencen Opera & Music Festival Orchestra & the Confidencen Baroque Orchestra Academy
Peter Spissky, Musical Director
Concert duration: 1 hour 30 minutes including interval
En confidence – In Wilhelmina’s Footsteps
14 August at 19:00
With In Wilhelmina’s Footsteps, Camerata Øresund paints a vivid portrait of Wilhelmina von Bayreuth – composer, writer, patron of the arts, and sister to Frederick the Great and the Swedish queen Lovisa Ulrika. As Margravine of Bayreuth, she transformed the small court into a flourishing artistic centre where music, philosophy, and the visual arts were given pride of place.
At Wilhelmina’s initiative, the celebrated Markgräfliches Opernhaus in Bayreuth was built — today a UNESCO World Heritage site and a lasting testament to her cultural vision. Her court soon attracted many of Europe’s leading musicians and thinkers, including composers Johann Pfeiffer, Carl Heinrich Graun, Johann Adolph Hasse, and the philosopher Voltaire.
This concert programme offers a glimpse into that vibrant world, interweaving Wilhelmina’s own works with music by the composers who surrounded her. A particular highlight is her rarely performed harpsichord concerto, showcasing both her virtuosity and her refined musical voice — supple, bold, and rich in imagination.
Performers
Josefine Andersson, mezzo-soprano
Camerata Øresund, directed by Peter Spissky
Concert duration: 1 hour 40 minutes including interval
Peter the Pirate & A Baroque Seafaring Tale
15 August at 11:30
Join the baroque ensemble Camerata Øresund on a musical adventure for the whole family! In the family concert Peter the Pirate and a Baroque Sea Adventure, children and the young at heart are invited into the magical world of baroque music.
Through storytelling and captivating baroque music, both children and adults are taken on a journey through the four seasons together with Peter the Pirate, the swashbuckling Vivaldi and his orchestra, encountering exciting challenges along the way to the warm shores of Costa Barocca.
Along the journey, we experience icy cold and rumbling thunder in Vivaldi’s The Four Seasons, and hear the cat Biber meow on gut strings. When the bridge to Costa Barocca becomes enchanted, we will need the children’s help to break the spell with a magical rhythm!
The baroque journey is framed by festive carnival songs, and the pirate Mia guides everyone safely through the story, ensuring that even the very youngest can follow along on this exciting baroque adventure.
Performers
Camerata Øresund, directed by Peter Spissky
Recommended from 3 years