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.
Alceste (Gluck) Alceste, Wq. 37 (the later French version is Wq. 44), is an opera by Christoph Willibald Gluck from 1767. The libretto (in Italian) was written by Ranieri de' Calzabigi and based on the play "Alcestis" by Euripides. The premiere took place on 26 December 1767 at the Burgtheater in Vienna.