La Liberazione
Opera by Francesca Caccini (1625)
Premiere July 30 2026
In the summer of 2026, three of Sweden’s leading Baroque singers take to the stage at Confidencen: Court Singer Ann Hallenberg as the powerful Alcina, mezzo-soprano Kristina Hammarström as her challenger Melissa, and tenor Martin Vanberg as the misguided Ruggiero, in Francesca Caccini’s landmark work La liberazione di Ruggiero dall’isola d’Alcina (1625).
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.”
Creative Team & Contributors
Composer: Francesca Caccini
Libretto: Ferdinando Saracinelli
Musical Director: Peter Spissky
Set & Costume Design: Bente Rolandsdotter, Artistic Director of Den Andra Operan
Director: Jacopo Spirei
Lighting Design: TBA
Musicologist: Holger Schmitt-Hallenberg
Cast
Alcina: Ann Hallenberg
Melissa: Kristina Hammarström
Ruggiero: Martin Vanberg
Nettuno / Nuncia / Dame des in cantata / Sirena / Altre Damigiella – To be announced
Chorus: Vistula / Astolfo / Pastore / Mostri infernali / Piante incantate / Damigelle – To be announced
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.
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