• George Frideric Handel. Opera in three acts. 1715.
• Libretto, perhaps by Haym, was adapted from Antoine Houdar de Lamotte’s Amadis de Grèce (Amadis of Greece), set by Destouches in 1699.
• First performance at the King’s Theatre, London, on 25th May 1715.

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CHARACTERS

Amadigi (Amadis)	male soprano
Dardano (Dardanus), Prince of Thrace	(male) alto
Oriana, a princess	soprano
Melissa, a sorceress	mezzo-soprano
Orgando, uncle of Oriana	male soprano

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Amadis of Gaul is in love with Oriana, who is also loved by Dardanus, all being in the power of the sorceress Melissa, who loves Amadis. Matters are resolved by the suicide of Melissa and the appearance of Uncle Orgando, who descends from the clouds to unite Amadis and Oriana in happiness.

Amadigi di Gaula enjoyed moderate success and was revived, with the usual alterations, in the following years. It was written at a time when Handel, relatively newly established in London, enjoyed the particular patronage of the Earl of Burlington. In 1713 or 1714 he had moved into Burlington House in Piccadilly, where it is possible that the work was written.