What is "rinaldo"

Rinaldo ( HWV 7) is an opera by George Frideric Handel, composed in 1711, and 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 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 adaptating 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 the premiere, he made numerous amendments to the score. With its spectacular vocal and orchestral passages, 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 was a revised version in 1731; of all Handel's operas, Rinaldo 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 the work have become more frequent worldwide. The opera's tercentenary in 2011 brought a modernized production at the Glyndebourne Festival.

Rinaldo, a cantata for tenor solo, four-part male chorus and orchestra, was begun by Johannes Brahms in 1863 as an entry for a choral competition announced in Aachen. He chose as his text the dramatic poem of the same name by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, which presents an episode from the epic Gerusalemme Liberata by Torquato Tasso in the form of a series of dialogues between the knight Rinaldo, who has been enchanted by the witch Armida, and his fellow knights, who are calling him back to the path of duty.

The part of Armida is not sung as she makes only a silent appearance. Although the work was four-fifths completed in 1863, Brahms laid it aside and only finished it in 1868 after the success of his A German Requiem.

The work is scored for piccolo, two flutes, two oboes, two clarinets, two bassoons, two horns, two trumpets, three trombones, timpani, tenor solo, four-part men's chorus, and strings. A typical performance lasts between 36 and 40 minutes.

The premiere took place in Vienna on 28 February 1869 at a concert of the Akademischer Gesangverein. The composer conducted, with the tenor Gustav Walter, a student chorus numbering 300, and the Court Opera orchestra. Rinaldo was subsequently published as Brahms’ Op. 50. It has never been popular, but is interesting on a number of counts, not least because it may give the closest idea of what an opera by Brahms would have sounded like.

Rinaldo may refer to:

• Renaud de Montauban (also spelled Renaut, Renault, Italian: Rinaldo di Montalbano, Dutch: Reinout van Montalbaen), a fictional knight in the medieval Matter of France
• Rinaldo (Jerusalem Liberated), a character in a 1580 epic poem by Tasso
  • Rinaldo (opera), a 1711 Italian opera by George Frideric Handel, based on the above character
  • Rinaldo (cantata), an 1863 cantata by Johannes Brahms, based on the above character
• HMS Rinaldo, one of four ships of the name launched between 1808 and 1943 by the Royal Navy