120-516: Flavio, re de' Longobardi ("Flavio, King of the Lombards", HWV 16) is an opera seria in three acts by George Frideric Handel . The Italian-language libretto was by Nicola Francesco Haym , after Matteo Noris 's Flavio Cuniberto . It was Handel's fourth full-length opera for the Royal Academy of Music . Handel had originally entitled the opera after the character of Emilia in the opera. Flavio
240-510: A National Arts Centre (NAC) production in Ottawa directed by Frank Corsaro . The performance, with Mario Bernardi conducting the NAC Orchestra , was applauded by Montreal Gazette critic Eric McLean for its fine music making and its displays of "architectural and sartorial splendour". Eighteen months later, on 19 January 1984 Bernardi and Corsaro, with Horne, Ramey and Benita Valente from
360-534: A black cloud descends to envelop Armida and Almirena, and they are borne away. Rinaldo mourns the loss of his loved one. When Goffredo and Eustazio arrive they comfort Rinaldo, and propose they visit a Christian magician who may have the power to save Almirena. Rinaldo, left alone, prays for strength. A sea shore. As Goffredo, Eustazio and Rinaldo near the magician's lair, a beautiful woman calls from her boat, promising Rinaldo that she can take him to Almirena. Two mermaids sing of love's delights, and urge Rinaldo to go in
480-449: A chorus of reconciliation. The opera was frequently revised, most particularly in 1717 and in 1731; modern performances are usually a conflation of the versions available. Up to and including 1717, these changes had no significant effect on the plot. In the 1731 version, however, in act 2 Armida imitates Almirena's voice rather than assuming her appearance, and Argante declares his love to Almirena's portrait rather than to her face. In act 3
600-597: A commission to write an Italian opera for the Queen's Theatre in the Haymarket (it became the "King's Theatre" after King George I's accession in 1714). This theatre, designed and built by Sir John Vanbrugh , had become London's main opera house; its manager, Aaron Hill, intended to mount the first Italian opera written specifically for London and had engaged an all-Italian company for the 1710–11 opera season. Hill employed an Italian poet and language teacher, Giacomo Rossi, to write
720-575: A complete score of the 1731 version. The libretto was published in London by the Queen's Theatre in February 1711, to coincide with the premiere, with Hill's English translation. Revised versions followed in 1717 and 1731 to reflect the changes introduced in those years; Rossi is believed to have prepared the Italian additions and revisions, with the 1731 English credited to "Mr. Humphreys". Feind's German versions of
840-434: A few Metastasio libretti for his London audience, preferring a greater diversity of texts. At this time the leading Metastasian composers were Hasse, Caldara , Vinci, Porpora, and Pergolesi . Vinci's settings of Didone abbandonata and Artaserse were much praised for their stromento recitative, and he played a crucial part in establishing the new style of melody. Hasse, by contrast, indulged in stronger accompaniment and
960-474: A few exceptions, opera seria was the opera of the court , of the monarchy and the nobility. This is not a universal picture: Handel in London composed not for the court but for a much more socially diverse audience, and in the Venetian republic composers modified their operas to suit the public taste and not that of the court. But for the most part, opera seria was synonymous with court opera. This brought with it
1080-544: A fury. A mountainside, at the magician's cavern. Goffredo and Eustazio are told by the Magician that Almirena is being held captive in Armida's palace at the mountain-top. Ignoring the magician's warning that they will need special powers, the pair set off for the palace but are quickly driven back by Armida's monsters. The magician then gives them magic wands that transcend Armida's power, and they set off again. This time they overcome
1200-505: A genre was still not clearly defined; in Hamburg the term Singspiel ("song-play") rather than opera described music dramas that combined elements of French and Italian opera, often with passages of spoken German dialogue. The music was, in the words of historian Donald Jay Grout , "tinged with the serious, heavy formality of Lutheran Germany". The first of Handel's early works in the German style
1320-459: A good King. He sends for Emilia and tells her that he has followed her desire; he has had Guido decapitated for killing her father and in fact she can see the severed head right away. Emilia swoons away and while she is unconscious the King has Guido come to her side so that when she revives they are joyously reunited. He sends for Vitige and tells him that his punishment will be that he will have to marry
SECTION 10
#17328442050661440-437: A herald announces the approach of Argante from the city. Eustazio surmises that the king fears defeat; this seems to be confirmed when Argante, after a grandiose entrance, requests a three-day truce to which Goffredo graciously assents. After Goffredo leaves, Argante ponders his love for Armida, the Queen of Damascus who is also a powerful sorceress, and considers the help her powers might bring him. As he muses, Armida arrives from
1560-466: A libretto based on a scenario that Hill prepared himself. As his subject Hill chose Gerusalemme liberata , an epic of the First Crusade by the 16th-century Italian poet Torquato Tasso ; the opera was called Rinaldo , after its main protagonist. Hill was determined to exploit to the full the opportunities for lavish spectacle afforded by the theatre's machinery; his aim, according to Dean and Knapp,
1680-583: A number of conditions: the court, and particularly the monarch, required that their own nobility be reflected on the stage. Opera seria plot-lines are heavily shaped by this criterion: Il re pastore displays the glory of Alexander the Great , while La clemenza di Tito does the same for the Roman emperor Titus . The potentate in the audience would watch his counterparts from the ancient world and see their benevolent autocracy redound to his own credit. Many aspects of
1800-519: A response to French criticism of what were often viewed as impure and corrupting librettos. As response, the Rome-based Academy of Arcadia sought to return Italian opera to what they viewed as neoclassical principles, obeying the classical unities of drama, defined by Aristotle , and replacing "immoral" plots, such as Busenello 's for L'incoronazione di Poppea , with highly moral narratives that aimed to instruct, as well as entertain. However,
1920-590: A result of which Rinaldo was not staged anywhere for two hundred years. The first 20th-century production of Rinaldo which can be specifically verified was a performance in London, in February 1933, by pupils of the Hammersmith Day Continuation School, though Dean and Knapp mention a shortened version, in Czech, at the Prague Conservatory in 1923. The first modern professional performance
2040-425: A series of recitatives containing dialogue interspersed with arias expressing the emotions of the character, this pattern only broken by the occasional duet for the leading amatory couple. The recitative was typically secco : that is, accompanied only by continuo (usually harpsichord , theorbo , and cello, sometimes supported by further bass and chordal instruments). At moments of especially violent passion secco
2160-683: A special mention for Valente's "plaintive and affecting" rendering of the popular aria "Lascia ch'io pianga". But, says Henahan, "the loudest cheers of the night went at last to the choreographer, Eugene Collins, and an incredibly nimble corps of tumbling warriors". After ten performances at the Metropolitan Opera House the production was taken in May to Washington, D.C. , and toured in the US before returning to New York in June for several outdoor performances. From
2280-447: A struggle for supremacy, Jerusalem falls to Goffredo; Argante is overcome and captured by Rinaldo, while Armida is taken by Eustazio. Rinaldo and Almirena celebrate their love and forthcoming marriage. Armida, accepting her defeat, breaks the wand which is the source of her evil power and together with Argante embraces Christianity. Goffredo expresses his forgiveness to his beaten foes and sets them free, before victors and vanquished join in
2400-505: A tenor, Armida a contralto, the Herald and the Magician become basses. Dean and Knapp summarise the 1731 revisions as "a striking illustration of the seeming vandalism with which Handel could treat his works in revival". The 19th-century music critic George Hogarth wrote of Rinaldo that "[t]he romantic interest of the subject, the charms of the music, and the splendour of the spectacle, made it an object of general attraction". Its premiere at
2520-593: A tenor; the Magician was transposed from alto castrato to bass, and Armida from soprano to contralto. The music, Lang says, flows "beguilingly" from the spacious overture; the quieter, emotional passages are illustrated evocatively, while in the more spectacular moments Handel's innovative use of brass is exciting and inspiring. The sudden blast of trumpets which announces the march in act 3 provides, say Dean and Knapp, "an effect of splendour and exhilaration that time has not dimmed". The harpsichord solos which decorate "Vo' far guerra" in act 2 were originally improvised on
SECTION 20
#17328442050662640-479: Is an Italian musical term which refers to the noble and "serious" style of Italian opera that predominated in Europe from the 1710s to about 1770. The term itself was rarely used at the time and only attained common usage once opera seria was becoming unfashionable and beginning to be viewed as something of a historical genre. The popular rival to opera seria was opera buffa , the 'comic' opera that took its cue from
2760-645: Is an error-strewn manuscript that may be a copy from one or more of the performing scores from that period. The manuscript bears numerous notes and corrections in Handel's hand, and was possibly the basis for the substantial revisions which he effected in 1731. It was also used by the copyist John Christopher Smith to produce two performing scores for the 1720s Hamburg performances. Further complete manuscript copies were produced by Smith and others in 1725–28 (the "Malmesbury" score), 1740 ("Lennard") and 1745 ("Granville"). These provide many variations of individual numbers. During
2880-424: Is at all pleasing to look at. This produces no effect on the King's ardour, however. Ugone tells his son Guido that he has been gravely insulted by Lotario, who has slapped him across the face. His honour demands that he fight a duel, but he is too old now, and demands that his son do so in his stead. Guido has to agree that his duty demands that he kill the father of his new bride. When Emilia meets up with Guido, he
3000-791: Is brought before the triumphant Armida. As he demands that Almirena be set free, Armida finds herself drawn to his noble spirit, and declares her love. When he angrily rejects her she uses her powers to assume Almirena's form, but Rinaldo suspects trickery, and departs. Armida, resuming her own appearance, is furious at her rejection yet retains feelings of tender love. She decides on another attempt to ensnare Rinaldo, and transforms herself back into Almirena's shape, but then encounters Argante. Believing her to be Almirena, Argante repeats his earlier promises of love and freedom. Swiftly resuming her own form, Armida denounces his infidelity and vows vengeance. Argante defiantly confirms his love for Almirena and declares that he no longer needs Armida's help. She departs in
3120-451: Is engaged to Ugone's son, Guido. Ugone has another daughter, Teodata, who is young and famous for her great beauty. Teodata has a secret boyfriend, Vitige, courtier of the King. Vitige slips away from his sweetheart Teodata's bedroom as dawn breaks. The two take a tender farewell of each other. Guido and Emilia are married in a ceremony with their immediate families present. The newly married couple sing of their happiness and look forward to
3240-615: Is the occasion of Handel's harpsichord cadenzas. Armida's act 3 duet with Argante was the last duet with bass part that Handel wrote for 30 years. Of the other set pieces, Dean and Knapp highlight Rinaldo's "Cara sposa" as an example of Handel's growing confidence with aria forms. "Or la tromba" is praised for the brilliance of its orchestration: 4 trumpets, drums, strings & oboes—the only aria Handel ever wrote for this combination. The melody for Almirena's "Lascia ch'io pianga" began its life as an Asian dance in Almira before appearing as an aria in
3360-482: Is too ashamed to look her in the eye. She does not understand what is wrong, but declares she will always love him, no matter what. Flavio has ordered the lovely Teodata to come to him and is working on seducing her when her father bursts into the room, protesting about the loss of his honour. The King leaves Ugone with his daughter, who believes, mistakenly, that he must have discovered her clandestine relationship with Vitige and confesses all. This only makes Ugone bewail
3480-448: Is unusually concise for an opera by Handel of this period. It is also notable as a skillful blend of tragedy and comedy, both in the text and the music, and for being one of Handel's few operas to feature leading roles for all major voice categories of his day – soprano, contralto, castrato, tenor and bass. Handel completed the score only seven days before the premiere, at the King's Theatre in
3600-532: The Göttingen International Handel Festival in 2004, with Nicholas McGegan conducting Concerto Köln . This production was well received by the public, but was criticised by Jochen Breiholz of Opera News for poor staging, indifferent singing and a substandard performance from the orchestra. Zürich Opera 's 2008 production, directed by Jens-Daniel Herzog and conducted by William Christie , threw aside all convention by representing
3720-655: The Handel Society of New York , with Stephen Simon conducting and Beverly Wolff as Rinaldo. The first staging of the opera in America was at the Houston Grand Opera under Lawrence Foster , in October 1975, with Marilyn Horne in the title role, a part with which she would become particularly associated on American stages. In July 1982 Horne sang the part alongside John Alexander 's Goffredo and Samuel Ramey 's Argante, in
Flavio - Misplaced Pages Continue
3840-662: The Haymarket on 14 May 1723. There were eight performances in the premiere run. The work was revived on 18 April 1732, under the direction of the composer, for four performances. There were no further revivals until it was rediscovered and performed in Göttingen on 2 July 1967. The first UK performance since Handel's time was on 26 August 1969 at the Unicorn Theatre in Abingdon-on-Thames , England. As with all Baroque opera seria, Flavio went unperformed for many years, but with
3960-597: The Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment in the pit. The production is set in a school where Rinaldo is a student, initially the victim of bullying, who enters into the world of the Crusades. The Glyndebourne Festival Opera brought a semi-staged version of this production to the 2011 BBC Proms . The amount of recycled music in Rinaldo is such that Dean and Knapp call it an "anthology" of
4080-424: The aria da capo began to fade, replaced by the rondò. Orchestras grew in size, arias lengthened, ensembles became more prominent, and obbligato recitative became both common and more elaborate. While throughout the 1780s Metastasio's libretti still dominated the repertory, a new group of Venetian librettists pushed opera seria in a new direction. The work of Gaetano Sertor and the group surrounding him finally broke
4200-458: The castrati , often prodigiously gifted male singers who had undergone castration before puberty in order to retain a high, powerful soprano or alto voice backed by decades of rigorous musical training. They were cast in heroic male roles, alongside another new breed of operatic creature, the prima donna . The rise of these star singers with formidable technical skills spurred composers to write increasingly complex vocal music, and many operas of
4320-479: The key of F , and switches to G at the beginning of the grove scene in act 1. Act 2 starts in E minor and ends in G. The final act begins and ends in B minor . According to Hicks the dominant character musically, except in act 3 in which she barely sings, is Armida. Her entry cavatina "Furie terribili" gives, says Hicks, "an immediate impression of fiery passion", an energy and intensity demonstrated in her act 2 "Ah crudel", and in her later vengeance aria which
4440-451: The serenata Gli orti esperidi ("The Gardens of the Hesperides "). Nicola Porpora , (much later to be Haydn 's master), set the work to music, and the success was so great that the famed Roman prima donna , Marianna Bulgarelli , "La Romanina", sought out Metastasio, and took him on as her protégé. Under her wing, Metastasio produced libretto after libretto, and they were rapidly set by
4560-496: The 1731 revival were even more radical, since they not only affected individual musical numbers but involved alterations in the plot. The production was advertised "With New Scenes and Cloathes", but many of the changes involved reducing or eliminating the pyrotechnics and special effects that had characterised the original production. The only significant new music in the 1731 production is a long accompanied recitative for Rinaldo, though other numbers are changed or cut. Goffredo becomes
4680-464: The Arcadian ideals of opera seria seemed increasingly irrelevant. Rulers were no longer free from violent deaths, and under new social ideals the hierarchy of singers broke down. Such significant socio-political change meant that opera seria , so closely allied to the ruling class, was finished. Rinaldo (opera) Rinaldo ( HWV 7) is an opera by George Frideric Handel , composed in 1711, and
4800-457: The French operatic tradition. Jommelli's works from 1740 onwards increasingly favored accompanied recitative and greater dynamic contrast, as well as a more prominent role for the orchestra while limiting virtuosic vocal displays. Traetta reintroduced the ballet in his operas and restored the tragic, melodramatic endings of classical dramas. His operas, particularly after 1760, also gave a larger role to
4920-432: The King loves her, and bring her to him. Vitige and Teodata decide the best strategy in this difficult situation will be for her not to reject the King but to play along with him. Guido challenges Lotario to a duel. The older man scornfully accepts, feeling that his greater experience will allow an easy victory, but is mortally wounded. The horrified Emilia finds her dying father in a pool of his own blood. He tells her Guido
Flavio - Misplaced Pages Continue
5040-500: The King's Theatre. During these years Handel's industry was such that he was producing a new opera for this theatre every nine months. The 1731 production of Rinaldo received six performances, bringing the London total for the work to 53 in Handel's lifetime, the most for any of his operas. After 1731 Handel had fewer stage successes, and performances of his operas became rarer. Changes in taste and style combined, as Grout concludes, to "thrust [the operas] into ill-deserved oblivion", as
5160-732: The Muslims at a signing ceremony". It was, wrote Associated Press critic Ronald Blum, "outrageous – and entertaining". A concert version of Rinaldo was given at the 2009 Edinburgh Festival , by the Bach Collegium Japan conducted by Masaaki Suzuki , with the Japanese soprano Maki Mori as Almirena. During the opera's tercentenary year in 2011, the Glyndebourne Festival mounted a new production directed by Robert Carsen , designed by Gideon Davey, and conducted by Ottavio Dantone with
5280-695: The Ottawa cast, brought the production to New York for the work's debut at the Metropolitan Opera . The production was loaned to the Met for its centennial season by the National Arts Centre of Canada "in deep appreciation of the many years during which Canadians have enjoyed opera from the Met – on tour, on radio and in New York". Donal Henahan in The New York Times praised all the singers in turn, with
5400-495: The Queen's Theatre on 24 February 1711, possibly under Handel's direction, was a triumphant success. A further 12 performances were immediately scheduled; at the end of the run, popular demand was such that two more were added. Notwithstanding this enthusiasm, the financial strains of such a grand production led to legal actions against Hill from unpaid craftsmen. Nine days after the premiere the Lord Chamberlain's Office revoked
5520-516: The absolute dominance of the singers and gave opera seria a new impetus towards the spectacular and the dramatic elements of 19th-century Romantic opera. Tragic endings, on-stage death and regicide became the norm rather than the exception. By the final decade of the century opera seria as it had been traditionally defined was essentially dead, and the political upheavals that the French Revolution inspired swept it away once and for all. With
5640-414: The action in a 21st-century airport lounge and conference centre, with Rinaldo dressed in a double-breasted navy blazer and needing a drink. "Characters go up and down on-stage escalators, and the set spins to show various areas of the lounge and terminal. There is a dissection of a small, white furry animal, a large snake, some allusions to Bond girls and character transformations. The Christians pull guns on
5760-471: The basis of this freedom, in late 1710 Handel left Hanover for London, possibly in response to an earlier invitation from members of the English nobility. By 1711, informed London audiences had become familiar with the nature of Italian opera through the numerous pastiches and adaptations that had been staged. The former Royal Academy of Music Principal, Curtis Price , writes that the popularity of these pieces
5880-401: The best works from Handel's Italian period. Sadie raises the question of whether the opera's dramaturgy is affected by the small amount of music written for its particular situations. He also comments on the problems raised for scholars by the extensive revisions to the music that took place during Handel's lifetime, but suggests that the available admixture creates interesting opportunities in
6000-548: The boat. He hesitates, unsure what to do, and his companions attempt to restrain him. Angry at the abduction of his loved one, Rinaldo enters the boat, which immediately sails off. Goffredo and Eustazio are shocked at Rinaldo's impulsiveness and believe that he has deserted their cause. In Armida's palace garden, Almirena mourns her captivity. Argante joins her and, overcome by her beauty, confesses that he now loves her. He promises that as proof of his feelings he will defy Armida's wrath and secure Almirena's freedom. Meanwhile, Rinaldo
6120-553: The choice key for a composer's typical "rage" aria , while D major for pomp and bravura, G minor for pastoral effect and E flat for pathetic effect, became the usual options. After peaking during the 1750s, the popularity of the Metastasian model began to wane. New trends, popularized by composers such as Niccolò Jommelli and Tommaso Traetta , began to seep into opera seria . The Italianate pattern of alternating, sharply-contrasted recitative and aria began to give way to ideas from
SECTION 50
#17328442050666240-413: The chorus. The culmination of these reforms arrived in the operas of Christoph Willibald Gluck . Beginning with Orfeo ed Euridice (1762), Gluck drastically cut back on the possibilities for vocal virtuosity afforded to singers, abolished secco recitative (thereby heavily reducing the delineation between aria and recitative), and took great care to unify drama, dance, music, and theatrical practice in
6360-454: The city of Jerusalem visible in the distance. Armida, after a last attempt to kill Almirena, also disappears as Rinaldo strikes her with his sword. The remaining four celebrate their reunion, while Goffredo announces that the attack on Jerusalem will begin the next day. In the city, Argante and Armida, in danger from a common enemy, become reconciled and prepare their troops for battle. Goffredo's army advances, and battle finally commences. After
6480-491: The complications of the plot with mock-heroic irony, but the more serious passages produce intense dramatic music from the composer. 18th century musicologist Charles Burney praised the aria " Amor, nel mio penar" written for Senesino as Guido, torn between love and duty, as "extremely pathetic" and the aria for Emilia, "Amante stravagante" became a popular success as a separate song with English words fitted to it as "See, see, my charmer flyes me". During rehearsals for Flavio ,
6600-536: The composition of cantatas and oratorios . In Rome, Handel met Cardinal Vincenzo Grimani , a diplomat and spare-time librettist; the result of this meeting was a collaboration which produced Handel's second Italian opera, Agrippina . After this work's triumphant premiere at the Teatro San Giovanni Grisostomo in Venice, on 26 December 1709, Handel became, says biographer P. H. Lang , "world famous and
6720-564: The conventions of the High Baroque era by developing and exploiting the da capo aria , with its A–B–A form. The first section presented a theme, the second a complementary one, and the third a repeat of the first with ornamentation and elaboration of the music by the singer. As the genre developed and arias grew longer, a typical opera seria would contain not more than thirty musical movements. A typical opera would start with an instrumental overture of three movements (fast-slow-fast) and then
6840-403: The countertenor David Daniels as Rinaldo, Cecilia Bartoli as Almirena and Catherine Bott in the small part of First Mermaid. Gramophone's reviewer called this issue "a treat for Handel lovers – a rare recording of one of the composer's richest operas, with a strong and starry cast". Since then several more versions have been made available: Harry Bicket 's 2001 recording for Arthaus, which
6960-547: The extent of cuts. Singers were, Sadie says, allowed too much freedom to ornament their vocal lines; some of the cadenzas were "preposterous". The opera reached Australia in 1999, at the Sydney Opera House under Patrick Summers , and was performed there again in July–August 2005 under Trevor Pinnock , with Michael Chance as Rinaldo. The new century saw a number of performances across Europe, including an appearance at
7080-487: The first time with his opera Rinaldo . A tremendous success, Rinaldo created a craze in London for Italian opera seria, a form focused overwhelmingly on solo arias for the star virtuoso singers. In 1719, Handel was appointed music director of an organisation called the Royal Academy of Music (unconnected with the present day London conservatoire), a company under royal charter to produce Italian operas in London. Handel
7200-448: The girl who he does not think is nice to look at, Teodata, and presents her to him. So both pairs of lovers will marry, Ugone will go to Britain to take up his position as governor, and Flavio remain faithful to his wife. The German-born Handel, after spending some of his early career composing operas and other pieces in Italy, settled in London, where in 1711 he had brought Italian opera for
7320-820: The greatest composers in Italy and Austria, establishing the transnational tone of opera seria : Didone abbandonata , Catone in Utica , Ezio , Alessandro nelle Indie , Semiramide riconosciuta , Siroe and Artaserse . After 1730 he was settled in Vienna and turned out more librettos for the imperial theater, until the mid-1740s: Adriano in Siria , Demetrio , Issipile [ de ] , Demofoonte , Olimpiade , La clemenza di Tito , Achille in Sciro , Temistocle , Il re pastore and what he regarded as his finest libretto, Attilio Regolo [ de ] . For
SECTION 60
#17328442050667440-489: The headdresses. Such costumes were worn by the leading men in Handel operas whether the setting was ancient Rome or Gothic Europe. Cuzzoni, in contrast, wears a contemporary gown such as might have been suitable for presentation at court , with a dwarf to serve as her train-bearer. Notes Sources Opera seria Opera seria ( Italian pronunciation: [ˈɔːpera ˈsɛːrja] ; plural: opere serie ; usually called dramma per musica or melodramma serio )
7560-409: The hissing snakes of Alecto and the howls of Scylla , as "ludicrously inappropriate" to accompany the king's grand act 1 entrance. Many other numbers—Dean and Knapp estimate two-thirds of the arias—were adapted and partly recomposed from earlier sources. In the years between the 1711 premiere and the 1717 revival, Handel made various adjustments to the score and the vocal parts, often to accommodate
7680-473: The idol of a spoiled and knowledgeable audience". This sudden recognition led to eager competition for Handel's services. Among those most keen to employ him was Prince Georg Ludwig , the Elector of Hanover and future King George I of Great Britain. In June 1710 Handel accepted the appointment of Kapellmeister to Georg's Hanover court, under terms that gave him considerable scope to pursue his own interests. On
7800-418: The impresario's licence. Under Hill's successors the opera was played at the theatre in most seasons until 1716–17, by which time it had totalled 47 performances, far more than any other opera at the Queen's. The public's general enthusiasm for the opera was not shared by the writers Joseph Addison and Richard Steele , who used the pages of their new journal, The Spectator , to pour scorn and ridicule on
7920-1005: The improvisatory commedia dell'arte . An opera seria had a historical or Biblical subject, whereas an opera buffa had a contemporary subject. Italian opera seria (invariably to Italian libretti ) was produced not only in Italy but almost throughout Europe, and beyond (see Opera in Latin America , Opera in Cuba e. g.). Among the main centres in Europe were the court operas based in Warsaw (since 1628), Munich (founded in 1653), London (established in 1662), Vienna (firmly established 1709; first operatic representation: Il pomo d'oro , 1668), Dresden (since 1719) as well as other German residences , Saint Petersburg (Italian opera reached Russia in 1731, first opera venues followed c. 1742 ), Madrid (see Spanish opera ), and Lisbon . Opera seria
8040-520: The initial run at the Queen's Theatre the publisher John Walsh printed Songs in the Opera of Rinaldo , in mainly short score form. Apart from the overture, instrumental numbers were omitted, as were the recitatives. In June 1711 Walsh published a fuller version, which included instrumental parts; he continued to publish versions of individual numbers, with a variety of orchestrations, until the 1730s. In 1717 William Babell issued an arrangement for harpsichord of
8160-431: The job to Ugone instead, thinking that with her father out of the way, he will more easily be able to seduce his lovely daughter Teodata. Lotario is furious that the King has backtracked on the prime position he was offered. Flavio praises the beauty of Teodata to his courtier Vitige, whom the King does not realise is Teodata's secret lover. Vitige tries to play down her attraction, telling the King that he doesn't think she
8280-485: The keyboard by Handel during performances, and were extremely popular. They were remembered and written down by William Babell , and published later as separate pieces. Lang believes that in spite of the borrowings, and the hasty manner in which the work was put together, Rinaldo is one of Handel's great operas. According to Dean and Knapp, no Italian opera heard in London to that point had been supported by such "majestic" orchestral forces. Critic Anthony Hicks describes
8400-490: The libretto were published in Hamburg in 1715, 1723 and 1727. The first full recording of Rinaldo (an "excerpts" disc had preceded it by two years) was made in 1977 by CBS, with Carolyn Watkinson in the title role, Ileana Cotrubaș as Almirena, and Jean-Claude Malgoire conducting La Grande Écurie et la Chambre du Roy . The work, recorded in a Paris church, was based on the 1711 score; Alan Blyth in Gramophone praised
8520-400: The librettos, Metastasio and his imitators customarily drew on dramas featuring classical characters from antiquity bestowed with princely values and morality, struggling with conflicts between love, honour and duty, in elegant and ornate language that could be performed equally well as both opera and non-musical drama. On the other hand, Handel, working far outside the mainstream genre, set only
8640-405: The loss of his family honour even more. Lotario tells his daughter Emilia that her marriage to Guido is null and void and demands that she abandon him. She tells Guido what her father is asking her to do, but says she will never cease to love Guido. Guido is torn by his love for her and his duty to avenge the insult to his father. The King orders his courtier Vitige to go to Teodata, tell her that
8760-403: The marches and the battle scene are cut; Armida and Argante remain unrepentant and vanish in a chariot drawn by dragons before the conclusion. In a letter dedicating the new opera to Queen Anne, Hill wrote of his choice of story: "I could not chuse a finer Subject than the celebrated story of Rinaldo and Armida". He had, however, exercised "a Poet's Privilege", to render Tasso's work suitable for
8880-405: The mid-1980s onwards, performances of Rinaldo became more frequent worldwide. In June 1989 it was staged at La Fenice in Venice, under John Fisher , again with Marilyn Horne. This production was criticised by critic and music scholar Stanley Sadie , in his review of the live recording, for straying too far from the composer's original intentions, particularly in the rearrangement of material and
9000-451: The monsters, but as they reach the gates of the palace it disappears, leaving them clinging to a rock in the midst of a stormy sea. They climb the rock and descend out of sight. In the palace garden Armida prepares to kill Almirena. Rinaldo draws his sword, but Armida is protected from his wrath by spirits. Suddenly Goffredo and Eustazio arrive, but as they touch the garden with their wands it disappears, leaving them all on an empty plain with
9120-430: The music, overall, as both "varied and excellent". Dean and Knapp's verdict is more equivocal. The music for the war and pageantry scenes, they say, is "brilliantly successful", but in depicting the scenes concerned with magic, Handel misses the mark; they suggest it was not until over 15 years later, with Admeto and Orlando , that he was able to represent the supernatural convincingly in music. The opera begins in
9240-550: The necessary distinction between vocal and instrumental material and, above all, the release of [his] wonderful melodic gift". Handel's first Italian opera, Rodrigo , showed an incomplete grasp of Italian style, with much of Keiser's Hamburg influence still evident; it was not a success when premiered in Florence, in late November or early December 1707. He followed this by a lengthy visit to Rome, where opera performances were then forbidden by papal decree, and honed his skills through
9360-409: The often tragic endings of classical drama were rejected out of a sense of decorum: early writers of opera seria librettos such as Apostolo Zeno felt that virtue should be rewarded and shown triumphant, while the antagonists were to be put on their way to remorse. The spectacle and ballet, so common in French opera, were banished. The age of opera seria corresponded with the rise to prominence of
9480-478: The opera houses and concert halls. He obtained introductions to leading musicians, among them Arcangelo Corelli , Alessandro and Domenico Scarlatti , and Agostino Steffani , and met numerous singers and performers. From these acquaintances Handel learned the essential characteristics of Italian music, in particular (according to Dean and Knapp ) "fluency in the treatment of Italian verse, accurate declamation and flexible harmonic rhythm in recitative, ... drawing
9600-518: The oratorio Il trionfo . From this simple tune and plain accompaniment Handel achieves an "intensely moving effect" in this, the best-known of all the arias. The main musical numbers from the 1711 libretto are listed, together with changes and replacements from the two major revisions of 1717 and 1731. Minor changes, transpositions, and alterations to recitative sections are not shown. New numbers introduced in 1717 and 1731 are listed separately. Other arias not listed may have been sung in Rinaldo during
9720-482: The overture and seven of the arias. Friedrich Chrysander published editions of the whole opera in 1874 and in 1894, based on a study of the existing published and manuscript material. In 1993 David Kimbell, for the Hallische Händel-Ausgabe (HHA), produced a full score of the 1711 version, together with rejected draft material and the additional numbers introduced in revivals up to 1717. HHA has also produced
9840-512: The playwright Barthold Feind, proved to be very popular and was revived in the city on numerous occasions during the 1720s. A pastiche of the opera, with additional numbers by Leonardo Leo , was presented by Leo at the Royal Court in Naples in 1718, with Nicolini singing his original role. After 1716–17, Rinaldo was not seen on the London stage until 1731, when it was revived in its revised form at
9960-452: The preface to the libretto, which suggest that Rossi was the senior partner in the birth of the libretto. Price also points to the likely influences on the structure of Rinaldo from two British semi-operas — George Granville 's The British Enchanters , and Purcell 's King Arthur . The transformations of characters to others' shapes, Price contends, is likely derived from John Dryden 's play Amphitryon . Handel's speed of composition
10080-497: The premiere, he made numerous amendments to the score. Rinaldo is regarded by critics as one of Handel's greatest operas. Of its individual numbers, the soprano aria " Lascia ch'io pianga " has become a particular favourite, and is a popular concert piece. Handel went on to dominate opera in England for several decades. Rinaldo was revived in London regularly up to 1717, and in a revised version in 1731; of all Handel's operas, Rinaldo
10200-419: The preparation of modern performing versions. The initial popular success of Rinaldo was assisted by the employment of virtuoso singers, in particular Nicolini in the title role. This part has remained in its original pitch, though in his various revisions Handel transposed the music of other leading roles to different voice types. Thus Goffredo had originally been an alto part, but in the 1717 revisions became
10320-426: The requirements of new singers. Details of these changes are difficult to establish since the performing librettos and scores for these years no longer exist. For 1717, more significant revisions were made; the role of Eustazio was merged with that of Goffredo, and Argante's part was rewritten to accommodate an alto voice. Thus in this revival all the principal parts were sung in high voice ranges. Handel's revisions for
10440-573: The revival of interest in Baroque music and historically informed musical performance since the 1960s, Flavio , like all Handel operas, receives performances at festivals and opera houses today. Among other productions, Flavio was performed at the New York City Opera in 2007 and by English Touring Opera in 2009. Flavio, King of Lombardy, is also King of Britain. He has two trusted, elderly counsellors, Lotario and Ugone. Lotario's daughter Emilia
10560-502: The right, provides valuable information about the visual aspect of the original performances of Handel operas. The illustration is probably of a scene from Flavio . The elongated bodies of the castrati tower over Cuzzoni, who was described by Horace Walpole as "short and squat". The set is architectural and generic, not a specific locale, and the costumes for the men are also generic, with some inspiration from ancient Roman military attire, breastplates and leg armour, combined with plumes on
10680-467: The same year and with the same leading singers, did not create such a sensation as Ottone had, although it was successful enough with audiences to be revived by Handel in a subsequent season. One reason for this may have been Flavio' s comparative brevity, as announced in the playbills by the Academy At the King's Theatre...this present Tuesday...will be performed a New Opera call'd, FLAVIUS...By reason of
10800-749: The second half of the 18th century Christoph Willibald Gluck , Niccolò Jommelli , Tommaso Traetta , Josef Mysliveček , Joseph Haydn , Johann Christian Bach , Carl Heinrich Graun , Antonio Salieri , Antonio Sacchini , Giuseppe Sarti , Niccolò Piccinni , Giovanni Paisiello , Domenico Cimarosa , and Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart . By far the most successful librettist of the era was Metastasio , others were Apostolo Zeno , Benedetto Pamphili , Silvio Stampiglia , Antonio Salvi , Pietro Pariati , Pietro Ottoboni , Stefano Benedetto Pallavicino , Nicola Francesco Haym , Domenico Lalli , Paolo Antonio Rolli , Giovanni Claudio Pasquini , Ranieri de' Calzabigi and Giovanni Ambrogio Migliavacca . Opera seria built upon
10920-448: The shortness of the Opera, to begin exactly at Eight a-Clock. Flavio also mixes high tragedy with amorous intrigue and comic interludes, which was perhaps not what London audiences, who had become accustomed to heroic dramas on a consistent note of serious drama in Italian opera, were expecting. The work is lightly scored mostly for strings and continuo instruments only, with woodwinds being used sparingly. Handel's music treats some of
11040-450: The singing of Nicolò Grimaldi , the celebrated alto castrato known as "Nicolini", in the title role. Steele compared the production unfavourably to a Punch and Judy show, particularly criticising certain bungled scene changes and the poor quality of effects such as thunder and lightning. Hogarth made light of such comments: "Notwithstanding the influence which the Spectator influenced over
11160-460: The sky in a fiery chariot. She has divined that the Saracens' only chance of victory lies in vanquishing Rinaldo, and has the power, she claims, to achieve this. The scene changes to a garden, with fountains and birds, where Rinaldo and Almirena are celebrating their love. They are interrupted as Armida appears, and wrests Almirena from Rinaldo's embrace. Rinaldo draws his sword to defend his lover, but
11280-432: The stage. This "privilege" moved the opera's story a long way from Tasso's original. Hill invented a new heroine, Almirena, to provide the main love interest with the hero Rinaldo, and the relationship between Rinaldo and Armida scarcely figures in the opera. Likewise, the affair between Argante and Armida is Hill's creation, as are the conversions to Christianity, the latter possibly a sop to English susceptibilities. Rossi
11400-610: The staging contributed to this effect: both the auditorium and stage were lit during performances, while the sets mirrored almost exactly the architecture of the palace hosting the opera. Sometimes the links between opera and audience were even closer: Gluck's serenata Il Parnaso confuso was first performed at Vienna with a cast consisting of members of the royal family. However, with the French Revolution came serious political upheavals across Italy, and as new, more egalitarian republics were established and old autocracies fell away,
11520-421: The standard of the singing, and despite reservations about the sound quality, called it one of the most enjoyable of available Handel opera recordings. There was no further recording of Rinaldo available until 1990, when John Fisher's heavily cut version from La Fenice was issued. Another decade passed before the appearance of Christopher Hogwood 's 1999 Decca recording, again based on the original score, with
11640-439: The sword but is unable to kill him and leaves. Vitige and Teodata have a quarrel about her treatment of the King as Flavio listens unobserved. She points out that Vitige told her to play along with Flavio, but Vitige says he did not mean that she should go that far. Flavio comes out of his hiding place, declares they have both deceived him and they will be punished. Flavio now realises that he will have to show wise judgement like
11760-479: The synthesis of Italian and French traditions. He continued his reform with Alceste (1767) and Paride ed Elena (1770). Gluck paid great attention to orchestration and considerably increased the role of the chorus: he also cut back heavily on exit arias. The labyrinthine subplots that had riddled earlier baroque opera were eliminated. In 1768, the year after Gluck's Alceste , Jommelli and his librettist Verazi produced Fetonte . Ensemble and chorus are predominant:
11880-506: The taste and manners of the age, its attacks ... seem to have had little effect in turning people from the entertainment". Some sources have suggested that the opera was performed in Dublin in March or April 1711, though according to Dean and Knapp there is no record of such an occasion. In November 1715 a version mainly in German was performed in Hamburg. This production, based on a translation by
12000-438: The tenor Alexander Gordon became frustrated with Handel's direction of the music from the harpsichord and threatened to jump on the instrument, to which Handel replied "Oh! Let me know when you will do that and I will advertise it. For I am sure more people will come to see you jump than to hear you sing." Although a caricature, the contemporary engraving of Senesino on the left, Francesca Cuzzoni and castrato Gaetano Berenstadt on
12120-473: The time were written as vehicles for specific singers. Of these the most famous is perhaps Farinelli , whose debut in 1722 was guided by Nicola Porpora . Though Farinelli did not sing for Handel, his main rival, Senesino , did. Opera seria acquired definitive form early during the 1720s. While Apostolo Zeno and Alessandro Scarlatti had paved the way, the genre only truly came to fruition due to Metastasio and later composers. Metastasio's career began with
12240-665: The usual number of exit arias slashed in half. For the most part, however, these trends did not become mainstream until the 1790s, and the Metastasian model continued to dominate. Gluck's reforms made most of the composers of opera seria of the previous decades obsolete. The careers of Hasse, Jommelli, Galuppi , and Traetta were effectively finished. Replacing them came a new wave of composers such as Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart , Joseph Haydn , Johann Christian Bach , Carl Heinrich Graun , Antonio Salieri (a disciple of Gluck), Antonio Sacchini , Giuseppe Sarti , Niccolò Piccinni , Giovanni Paisiello and Domenico Cimarosa . The popularity of
12360-470: The wedding party that evening. Ugone presents his daughter Teodata to the King. Flavio is greatly struck by her beauty and suggests she become lady-in-waiting to the Queen (who does not appear in the opera). King Flavio receives word that his governor in Britain has become incapacitated through illness and needs to be replaced. The King offers the position to his counsellor Lotario, but changes his mind and offers
12480-542: The work have become more frequent worldwide. Rinaldo was the first Handel opera to have found its way to the Metropolitan. The opera's tercentenary in 2011 brought a modernized production at the Glyndebourne Festival . Handel began to compose operas at the Oper am Gänsemarkt in Hamburg, where he spent the years 1703 to 1706; his principal influences were Johann Mattheson and Reinhard Keiser . At that time, German opera as
12600-416: The work. Addison may have been motivated by his own failure, a few years previously, to establish a school of English opera with Rosamund , on which he had collaborated with the composer Thomas Clayton. It was absurd, he wrote, that theatre audiences should be exposed to entire evenings of entertainment in a foreign tongue: "We no longer understand the language of our own stage". Addison did, however, praise
12720-719: The years 1711–17, but in the absence of contemporary evidence from scores or librettos the extent of such changes cannot be accurately ascertained. No complete autograph score exists; fragments representing about three-quarters of the 1711 score are held by the Royal Music Library (a subdivision of the British Library in London) and the Fitzwilliam Museum in Cambridge. The oldest complete score, dating from about 1716,
12840-410: Was Almira , a considerable success when it was premiered on 8 January 1705. Over the next three years Handel composed three more operas in the German style, but all of these are now lost. However, fragments of the music from these works have been identified in later operas. In autumn 1706 Handel went to Italy. He stayed for long periods in Florence, Rome, Naples and Venice, making frequent visits to
12960-596: Was "to combine the virtuosity of Italian singing with the extravagance of the 17th century masque". The Crusader army under Goffredo is laying siege to Jerusalem, where the Saracen king Argante is confined with his troops. With Goffredo are his brother Eustazio, his daughter Almirena, and the knight Rinaldo. As Goffredo sings of the coming victory, Rinaldo declares his love for Almirena, and Goffredo confirms that she will be Rinaldo's bride when Jerusalem falls. Almirena urges Rinaldo to fight boldly and assure victory. As she departs,
13080-413: Was a great success with the public, despite negative reactions from literary critics hostile to the contemporary trend towards Italian entertainment in English theatres. Handel composed Rinaldo quickly, borrowing and adapting music from operas and other works that he had composed during a long stay in Italy in the years 1706–10, during which he established a considerable reputation. In the years following
13200-580: Was assisted by his inclusion of arias and other numbers from his earlier Italian works, among them "Bel piacere" and "Basta che sol" from Agrippina , "Sibillar gli angui" from the dramatic cantata Aci, Galatea e Polifemo , and the mermaids' song "Il vostro maggio" from the cantata Arresta il passo . Almirena's aria "Lascia ch'io pianga" had appeared in the oratorio Il trionfo del Tempo e del Disinganno . The suitability of some of these insertions has been questioned by later commentators; Dean and Knapp cite Argante's "Sibillar gli angui", with its references to
13320-590: Was at the Halle Opera House in June 1954, under Horst-Tanu Margraf , as part of the Handel Festival . On 17 May 1961 the Handel Opera Society, directed by Charles Farncombe [ es ; fr ] , staged the work at London's Sadler's Wells Theatre , a production that was revived four years later. The first American performance was a concert version at Carnegie Hall on 27 March 1972, given by
13440-469: Was less popular in France, where the national genre of French opera (or tragédie en musique ) was preferred. Acclaimed composers of opera seria included Antonio Caldara , Alessandro Scarlatti , George Frideric Handel , Antonio Vivaldi , Tomaso Albinoni , Nicola Porpora , Leonardo Vinci , Johann Adolph Hasse , Leonardo Leo , Baldassare Galuppi , Francesco Feo , Giovanni Battista Pergolesi and in
13560-607: Was not only to compose operas for the company but hire the star singers, supervise the orchestra and musicians, and adapt operas from Italy for London performance. Ottone , an opera by Handel presented for the Academy in January 1723, was the first time London audiences had seen the operatic superstars, castrato Senesino and soprano Francesca Cuzzoni, performing together in an opera, and had been an immense success, with demand for tickets far outstripping supply Flavio , following Ottone in
13680-476: Was regarded at the time as the more adventurous of the two. Pergolesi was noted for his lyricism. The main challenge for all was achieving variety, a break from the pattern of recitativo secco and aria da capo . The mutable moods of Metastasio's librettos helped, as did innovations made by the composer, such as stromento recitative or cutting a ritornello . During this period the choice of keys to reflect certain emotions became standardized: D minor became
13800-572: Was replaced by stromentato (or accompagnato ) recitative, where the singer was accompanied by the entire body of strings. After an aria was sung, accompanied by strings and oboe (and sometimes with horns or flutes), the character usually exited the stage, encouraging the audience to applaud. This continued for three acts before concluding with an upbeat chorus, to celebrate the jubilant climax. The leading singers each expected their fair share of arias of varied mood, be they sad, angry, heroic or meditative. The dramaturgy of opera seria developed largely as
13920-459: Was required to turn the elaborate scenario into verses, a relatively light task which, he said, was "the delivery of a few evenings". Nevertheless, Rossi complained that Handel hardly gave him time to write: "To my great wonder I saw an entire Opera set to music by that surprising genius, with the greatest degree of perfection, in two weeks". Price argues that Rossi's role was beyond that of a mere versifier, quoting Hill's words of praise for Rossi in
14040-564: Was responsible, and expires. Emilia vows to be revenged. Emilia and Ugone both go to the King, she demanding justice for her father's murder, he justifying his son's action by his vindication of the insult to him. Flavio says he will consider the matter; really he is more concerned at the moment with trying to seduce Teodata. Vitige brings Teodata to the King and has to listen as Flavio declares she will be his real Queen, which makes him enraged with jealousy. Emilia confronts Guido, who gives her his sword and tells her to run him through. She takes
14160-512: Was the first Italian language opera written specifically for the London stage. The libretto was prepared by Giacomo Rossi from a scenario provided by Aaron Hill , and the work was first performed at the Queen's Theatre in London's Haymarket on 24 February 1711. The story of love, war and redemption, set at the time of the First Crusade , is loosely based on Torquato Tasso 's epic poem Gerusalemme liberata ("Jerusalem Delivered"), and its staging involved many original and vivid effects. It
14280-450: Was the most frequently performed during his lifetime. After 1731, however, the opera was not staged for more than 200 years. Renewed interest in baroque opera during the 20th century led to the first modern professional production in Handel's birthplace, Halle , Germany, in 1954. The opera was mounted sporadically over the following thirty years; after a successful run at New York's Metropolitan Opera in 1984, performances and recordings of
14400-419: Was the result of a deliberate strategy aimed at the suppression of English opera. Handel's music was relatively unknown in England, though his reputation from Agrippina was considerable elsewhere. A short "Italian Dialogue" he had written in honour of Queen Anne 's birthday was well received when performed at St James's Palace on 6 February 1711. In London, by means which are not documented, Handel secured
#65934