© James Glossop
Witches and Wizards
Potions, spells and transformations... in opera too, witches use every means to achieve their ends.
In Macbeth and Dido & Aeneas, witches gather to boast of their misdeeds or plot against young lovers. Some even take centre stage, like the sorceress Alcina who gives her name to Handel's opera. Although rarer, their male counterparts have their place too, such as the sorcerer Atlante from whose Enchanted Palace no one can escape, or the magician Klingsor in Wagner's Parsifal.