Which opera seria by Handel was created first, Orlando or Alcina?
Alcina Alcina (HWV 34) is an opera seria by George Frideric Handel. Handel used the libretto of "L'isola di Alcina", an opera that was set in 1728 in Rome by Riccardo Broschi, which he acquired the year after during his travels in Italy. Partly altered for better conformity, the story was originally taken from Ludovico Ariosto's "Orlando furioso" (like those of the Handel operas "Orlando" and "Ariodante"), an epic poem. The opera contains several musical sequences with opportunity for dance: these were composed for dancer Marie Sallé.
Engaged (play) Engaged is a three-act farcical comic play by W. S. Gilbert. It premiered at the Haymarket Theatre on 3 October 1877, the same year as "The Sorcerer", one of Gilbert's comic operas written with Arthur Sullivan, which was soon followed by the collaborators' great success in "H.M.S. Pinafore". "Engaged" was well received on the London stage and then in New York City, where the first production of the play opened in February 1879. The work then enjoyed many revivals on both sides of the Atlantic and continues to be produced today.