Handel - Rinaldo

For his first foray into Handel's operatic repertoire at the helm of Les Arts Florissants, Paul Agnew tackles the composer's very first London opera: Rinaldo.

In 1711, having just arrived in London, the young George Frideric Handel was commissioned to create an opera based on Tasso's Jerusalem Delivered. In two weeks, he composed Rinaldo, which premiered at the Queen's Theatre on February 24, the day after his twenty-sixth birthday. It was a resounding success. The first Italian opera created specifically for a London audience, Rinaldo also marked the beginning of Handel's brilliant career in the capital of England.

Set against a backdrop of holy war, the opera follows the story of Rinaldo and Almirena's thwarted love, as they grapple with the machinations of the perfidious Argante and Armida. Magic wands, metamorphoses, deus ex machina... in this astonishing tale, the dramatic twists and turns are tinged with fantasy. But the most dazzling magic is undoubtedly to be found in the sequence of arias that the young Handel compiles here, drawing on his past compositions to make Rinaldo a compendium of what he does best. For example, the famous aria “Lascia, ch'io pianga” (Let me cry), made popular - among others - by Gérard Corbiau's film Farinelli, is none other than an adaptation of “Lascia la spina” originally composed in 1707 for the oratorio Il trionfo del Tempo e del Disinganno. And what an adaptation...

For this new production, Paul Agnew surrounds himself with a dazzling cast of young soloists, including British countertenor Hugh Cutting, revealed by Le Jardin des Voix academy. Watch out for virtuosity!