26 March - 17 April 2003. Conducted by Rinaldo Alessandrini, directed by Luca Ronconi, with Monica Bacelli, Daniela Barcellona, Robert Gierlach. First performed in 1724, with a libretto by Nicola Francesco Haym, this is considered one of Handels greatest operas. The 20th century saw a revival of interest in his stage works, beginning in Germany in the 1920s. Since then their popularity has spread to Britain (pioneered by the work of the Handel Opera Society) and the US. Now nearly all major opera companies include this work in their repertoires.