George Frideric Handel (1685-1759) started his career
in 1702 as a church organist in the central European
city of Halle, but a visit to Berlin sometime before
that (his first biographer, John Mainwaring, dates the
visit to 1698, arbitrarily it seems) introduced the
composer to opera, the pursuit that would dominate four
decades of his professional life. On February 24, 1711,
Handel's first opera for London, Rinaldo, opened at the
Queen's (King's after George I's accession in 1714)
Theatre in th...(+)
George Frideric Handel (1685-1759) started his career
in 1702 as a church organist in the central European
city of Halle, but a visit to Berlin sometime before
that (his first biographer, John Mainwaring, dates the
visit to 1698, arbitrarily it seems) introduced the
composer to opera, the pursuit that would dominate four
decades of his professional life. On February 24, 1711,
Handel's first opera for London, Rinaldo, opened at the
Queen's (King's after George I's accession in 1714)
Theatre in the Haymarket. Rinaldo was the first Italian
opera composed specifically for the London stage, to a
libretto by the theater's librettist, Giacomo Rossi,
based on the story of the crusader-knight Rinaldo and
the sorceress-queen Armida from Tasso's Gerusalemme
liberata (Jerusalem Liberated). Handel composed the
work in a mere two weeks, partly by raiding many of his
earlier scores - fifteen of the arias come from operas
and oratorios he had written for Hamburg and Italy -
but for his leading man, the castrato Nicolini, Handel
composed only new music. The aria "Cara sposa,"
Rinaldo's lament over his lost love Almirena, who has
been kidnapped by Armida, adds an emotional depth to a
character that otherwise would run the risk of coming
off as a two-dimensional hero. The minor key, the rich,
contrapuntal string part, and Handel's use of
chromaticism all reflect the sense of loss and longing
in the text.
After composing two Italian operas for Hamburg, two
Italian oratorios for Rome, and a third Italian opera
for Venice, George Frideric Handel moved to England in
1710 to compose his first Italian opera for London.
Produced in the Queen's Theater in the Haymarket on
February 24, 1711, Rinaldo would certainly have been an
enormous success if the librettist and impresario Aaron
Hill had not neglected to pay the tradesmen, thereby
causing the Lord Chamberlain to revoke Hill's theater
license nine days after the premiere. But Rinaldo paved
the way for the quick success of Handel and Italian
opera in London and the work was revived in 1712, then
again in 1717, and again in 1731.
Hill's libretto is based on Tasso's epic poem on the
First Crusade Gerusalamme liberata, but with a new plot
and a new female lead to give the story appeal to a
then-contemporary London audience. Handel's music is in
part a pastiche drawn from many of his earlier dramatic
works, and in part a newly composed work with deeply
expressive arias and recitative adorned with
extravagant trumpet and woodwind writing. Together,
Hill's libretto and Handel's music create a powerful
and plangent opera with strong and sympathetic leads in
Rinaldo and Almirenda and a superbly coherent and
convincing score.
"Cara sposa" (from Rinaldo Act I Scene 7) is a
wonderful 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 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.
Although originally created for Voice & Orchestra, I
created this Interpretation of the "Cara sposa, amante
cara" (Beloved spouse, dearest heart Where art thou?
Woe!) Rinaldo's aria for Oboe & Strings (2 Violins,
Viola & Cello).
PARTITION