Rinaldo

Rinaldo Georg Friedrich Haendel Renowned for its formidable vocal difficulties, Rinaldo was undoubtedly Handel's greatest success during his lifetime.

Rinaldo Georg Friedrich Haendel

Renowned for its formidable vocal difficulties, Rinaldo was undoubtedly Handel's greatest success during his lifetime.

Cast

Philippe Jaroussky | conductor

Valentina Carrasco | stage director

Valentina Carrasco, Elena Zamparutti | set design

Silvia Aymonino | costumes

Elfried Roller | lighting

Carlo Vistoli | Rinaldo

Regula Mühlemann | Almirena

Karine Deshayes | Armida

Christophe Dumaux | Goffredo

Nahuel Di Pierro | Argante

Paul Figuier | Eustazio

Elsa Roux Chamoux* | Donna

Dominique Visse | Un mage

*Young talents from the Jaroussky Academy

Ensemble Artaserse

In a few words

The musician's first opera conceived upon his arrival on English soil and a work renowned for its formidable vocal difficulties, Rinaldo was undoubtedly Handel's greatest success during his lifetime. Composed from a libretto recounting the story of Renaud and the sorceress Armida, it met with unprecedented enthusiasm from its creation. Written in fourteen days, Handel reused – as was then customary – arias from earlier works. Thus, his celebrated aria from Act II, “Lascia ch’io pianga,” is largely inspired by the aria “Lascia la spina,” which he composed four years earlier for Il Trionfo del tempo. For this new production, Philippe Jaroussky returns to the pit on Avenue Montaigne and offers us his second Handel after the magnificent Giulio Cesare from three years ago. Around him, a team of performers as complicit as they are experienced in this repertoire. The staging is entrusted to the Argentinian Valentina Carrasco, who has juggled with finesse and inventiveness between various repertoires since her beginnings with the Fura del Baus collective, moving with delight from bel canto to John Adams. This new production of Rinaldo will see her first foray into baroque lands, but there is no doubt that she should embrace this story of a sorceress in love with delight and brilliance.

New production

Co-production Théâtre des Champs-Élysées