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Amadigi di Gaula review – inflatables and appoggiaturas as Handel takes a trip to Love Island
Buxton festival's new staging of Handel's Amadigi di Gaula reimagines the baroque opera as a Love Island-style reality show, replacing the original's magic and sorcery with television trickery and swapping a sorceress for an all-powerful producer. Director Olivia Fuchs turns the composer's slight four-character plot into a knowing send-up of dating-show conventions, using props such as an inflatable flamingo and constant cameras to keep the concept playful while still allowing the emotional core of the story to land.
The production features sopranos Hilary Cronin and Rowan Pierce alongside countertenors James Hall and Tim Morgan (the latter stepping in as a late replacement), whose chemistry and vocal interplay are highlighted as central to the staging's success. Erin Helyard leads the English Concert with lively period-instrument playing, while Fuchs sustains the reality-TV conceit throughout, turning magical trials into gameshow-style challenges and using items like hair straighteners as instruments of onstage "torture". The review singles out Cronin's performance as Melissa for particular praise, alongside strong contributions from her co-stars.
In short
- Buxton festival reimagines Handel's Amadigi as a Love Island-style reality show
- Director Olivia Fuchs swaps magic for TV trickery and gameshow gimmicks
- Praised for strong singing, chemistry and inventive staging by all four leads
Explained simply
Amadigi di Gaula is an early 18th-century opera composed by Handel, telling a romantic story involving four characters and featuring elements of magic and sorcery. The Buxton festival's new production reimagines this historic work as a Love Island-style reality television show, replacing the magical elements with modern television studio settings and mechanics while maintaining the emotional relationships at the story's centre.
Director Olivia Fuchs stages the production with four lead singers – sopranos Hilary Cronin and Rowan Pierce alongside countertenors James Hall and Tim Morgan. Conductor Erin Helyard leads the English Concert on instruments from Handel's era, pairing traditional music-making with Fuchs's contemporary vision.
This reinterpretation raises questions about how classical operas can be adapted for modern audiences. By setting a historic romantic tale within a contemporary reality-television framework, the production explores whether historical art forms can meaningfully engage with current popular culture.
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