MENU Handel Rodelinda THE ENGLISH CONCERT HARRY BICKET LUCY CROWE | IESTYN DAVIES JOSHUA ELLICOTT | TIM MEAD BRANDON CEDEL | JESS DANDY 1 Credits Tracklist Notes from Harry Bicket Synopsis Programme note Sung texts Handel Rodelinda Biographies THE ENGLISH CONCERT HARRY BICKET LUCY CROWE | IESTYN DAVIES JOSHUA ELLICOTT | TIM MEAD BRANDON CEDEL | JESS DANDY MENU Recorded in St John’s Smith Square, London, Post-production Cover Image UK, Julia Thomas ‘Impossibility’ by on 16–21 September 2020 Francisco Andriani (b. 1989), Italian Language Coach reworked by Recording Producer & Engineer Matteo Dalle Fratte stoempstudio.com Philip Hobbs Design Assistant Engineer stoempstudio.com Rodrigo Leal del Ojo 3 George Frideric Handel (1685–1759) MENU Rodelinda, regina de’ Longobardi, HWV 19 THE ENGLISH CONCERT HARRY BICKET director/harpsichord RODELINDA LUCY CROWE soprano BERTARIDO IESTYN DAVIES countertenor GRIMOALDO JOSHUA ELLICOTT tenor GARIBALDO BRANDON CEDEL bass EDUIGE JESS DANDY contralto UNULFO TIM MEAD countertenor 4 MENU ACT I 1 — Ouverture 4:10 2 — Menuet 1:56 Scene 1 3 — Aria Ho perduto il caro sposo (Rodelinda) 5:38 4 — Recitative Regina! (Grimoaldo, Rodelinda) 0:59 5 — Aria L’empio rigor del fato (Rodelinda) 4:33 Scenes 2 & 3 6 — Recitative Duca, vedesti mai (Grimoaldo, Garibaldo, Eduige) 1:27 Scene 3 7 — Aria Io già t’amai (Grimoaldo) 3:34 Scene 4 8 — Recitative E tu dici d’amarmi? (Eduige, Garibaldo) 0:39 9 — Aria Lo farò (Eduige) 3:41 Scene 5 10 — Recitative Eduige, t’inganni (Garibaldo) 0:24 11 — Aria Di Cupido impiego i vanni (Garibaldo) 5:06 5 MENU Scene 6 12 — Sinfonia Pompe vane di morte (Bertarido) 2:19 & Accompagnato 13 — Aria Dove sei, amato bene? (Bertarido) 5:05 14 — Recitative Ma giunge Unulfo (Bertarido, Unulfo) 2:08 Scene 7 15 — Aria & Recitative Ombre, piante, urne funeste (Rodelinda, Bertarido, Unulfo) 6:05 Scene 8 16 — Recitative Baci inutili e vani (Garibaldo, Bertarido, Unulfo, Rodelinda) 1:54 17 — Aria Morrai, sì (Rodelinda) 4:23 Scene 9 18 — Recitative E ben, duca, poss’io (Grimoaldo, Garibaldo) 0:41 19 — Aria Se per te giungo a godere (Grimoaldo) 3:56 Scene 10 20 — Recitative Unulfo, oh Dio! (Bertarido, Unulfo) 0:51 21 — Aria Sono i colpi della sorte (Unulfo) 4:18 Scene 11 22 — Recitative Sì, l’infida consorte (Bertarido) 0:23 23 — Aria Confusa si miri (Bertarido) 4:41 6 MENU ACT II Scenes 1 & 2 24 — Recitative Già perdesti, o signora (Garibaldo, Eduige, Rodelinda) 2:10 Scene 2 25 — Aria De’ miei scherni (Eduige) 4:53 Scene 3 26 — Recitative Rodelinda, è pur ver …? (Grimoaldo, Rodelinda, Unulfo, Garibaldo) 2:00 27 — Aria Spietati, io vi giurai (Rodelinda) 4:53 Scene 4 28 — Recitative Unulfo, Garibaldo, in questo seno (Grimoaldo, Unulfo, Garibaldo) 1:05 29 — Aria Prigioniera ho l’alma in pena (Grimoaldo) 6:40 30 — Recitative Massime così indegne (Unulfo, Garibaldo) 0:39 31 — Aria Tirannia gli diede il regno (Garibaldo) 3:08 32 — Recitative Sì, sì, fellon (Unulfo) 0:35 33 — Aria Fra tempeste funeste (Unulfo) 5:12 7 MENU Scene 5 34 — Aria & Recitative Con rauco mormorio (Bertarido, Eduige) 6:31 35 — Recitative Ah no, che non m’inganna (Eduige, Bertarido, Unulfo) 3:02 36 — Aria Scacciata dal suo nido (Bertarido) 5:06 Scene 6 37 — Recitative Vive il mio sposo? (Rodelinda, Unulfo) 1:01 38 — Aria Ritorna, o caro (Rodelinda) 4:24 Scene 7 39 — Recitative Ah, sì! Ecco lo sposo (Rodelinda, Bertarido, Grimoaldo) 2:58 40 — Aria Tuo drudo è mio rivale (Grimoaldo) 3:18 41 — Recitative Non ti bastò, consorte (Rodelinda, Bertarido) 0:54 42 — Duet Io t’abbraccio, e più che morte (Rodelinda, Bertarido) 7:37 8 MENU ACT III Scene 1 43 — Recitative Del german nel periglio (Eduige, Unulfo) 1:40 44 — Aria Un zeffiro spirò (Unulfo) 5:36 45 — Recitative Con opra giusta (Eduige) 0:22 46 — Aria Quanto più fiera (Eduige) 3:51 Scene 2 47 — Recitative O falso è Bertarido (Garibaldo, Grimoaldo) 1:25 48 — Aria Tra sospetti (Grimoaldo) 4:26 Scene 3 49 — Aria, Chi di voi fu più infedele (Bertarido, Unulfo) 6:04 Accompagnato & Recitative Scene 4 50 — Recitative Non temere (Eduige, Rodelinda) 1:52 51 — Aria Se ’l mio duol non è sì forte (Rodelinda) 6:54 Scene 5 52 — Recitative Amico, ah!, che a me duole (Bertarido, Unulfo) 1:03 53 — Aria Se fiera belva ha cinto (Bertarido) 4:22 9 MENU Scene 6 54 — Accompagnato Fatto inferno è il mio petto (Grimoaldo) 2:58 55 — Aria Pastorello d’un povero armento (Grimoaldo) 5:29 Scenes 7 & 8 56 — Recitative Che miro? (Garibaldo, Grimoaldo, Bertarido, Rodelinda) 1:14 Scene 8 57 — Aria Vivi, tiranno (Bertarido) 5:23 Scene 8 & Final Scene 58 — Recitative Dunque sei Bertarido? (Grimoaldo, Rodelinda, Unulfo, Eduige, Bertarido) 1:37 Final Scene 59 — Aria Mio caro, caro bene (Rodelinda) 4:01 60 — Recitative Sposa, figlio (Bertarido) 0:33 61 — Duet & Chorus D’ogni crudel martir (Rodelinda, Bertarido, Coro) 6:05 10 Notes from Harry Bicket MENU Rodelinda is an opera that has been part of my life for many years; firstly at Glyndebourne in the late 1990s when I conducted many performances at the Festival and also on tour, and then from 2004 when the Metropolitan Opera in New York staged their first ever complete Handel opera with Renée Fleming in the title role, a production that is still in their repertoire. The renewed interest in Handel’s operas comes from a number of sources: a thirst for ‘new’ repertoire; a revolution in the way in which stage directors have contrived to stage opera seria with its formal structure and da capo arias; a plethora of sensational Handel singers (it is said that it is easier in the twenty-first century to cast a Handel opera well than a Verdi opera); and a happy rediscovery of the emotional directness of Handel’s musical language which seems to speak to our times. In Rodelinda, there is also a fine libretto which gives the characters (especially Grimoaldo) an emotional arc that is not always found in eighteenth-century opera, and Rodelinda’s dignified resistance in a male dominated society comes across as unexpect- edly modern. The English Concert performs a Handel opera every year at Carnegie Hall, an event that is now sold out months in advance. 2020 was an unprecedented year of course and all performances were cancelled, but we decided that we should find a way to record the piece. The challenges were huge; all performers had to be two 11 MENU metres away from each other, which for an orchestra is like trying to juggle with one hand tied behind one’s back. The English Concert is a listening orchestra, and not being able to hear a stand partner, let alone other instruments or singers, is a big challenge. However, we were determined to find a way, and for all of us the imperative was that we play together again after six month’s hiatus in the most joyful way we could. Gradually it became clear we needed to adjust our ears and sharpen other antennae in order to cohere in such a spread-out environment. But ultimately cohesion comes, as it always does, from a common vision and a passion for performing, something that has been at the heart of The English Concert since its founding almost fifty years ago. 12 MENU Synopsis Aripert, king of Lombardy, left his domains to his three children, Bertarido, Gundeberto and Eduige. Gundeberto sent his adviser Garibaldo to invite Grimoaldo, Duke of Benevento, to help him to get more than his share, in return for the hand of Eduige, now Queen of Pavia. In the ensuing war, Gundeberto was killed treacherously and Bertarido went missing, presumed dead, leaving behind his wife Rodelinda and their young son Flavio. Grimoaldo usurped Bertarido’s kingdom of Milan. ACT I In the royal palace in Milan, Rodelinda laments the loss of her husband Bertarido (‘Ho perduto’). Grimoaldo declares his long-hidden passion for her, but she indignantly spurns him and his offer of the throne that is rightfully hers (‘L’empio rigor’). Grimoaldo com- plains to Garibaldo of Rodelinda’s disdain and the demands on him of Bertarido’s sister, Eduige, to whom he was pledged. Garibaldo suggests he play the women off against each other. Grimoaldo ‘hasn’t the heart’, but tells Eduige that as she once spurned him, he now spurns her (‘Io già t’amai’). The jilted Eduige promises Garibaldo to return the love he pro- fesses for her once she has achieved Grimoaldo’s humiliation (‘Lo farò’). Alone, Garibaldo reveals his ambition to gain a throne for himself by pretending love (‘Di Cupido’). In fact, Bertarido is alive; he has given out word of his death in order to be able to return in secret and carry away his wife and son. Among the royal tombs, in dis- guise, he bitterly resents the inscription on the monument erected to him, longing 13 MENU for comfort from his beloved wife (‘Dove sei’). He is discovered by Unulfo, his loyal advisor. Pretending to serve the current regime, Unulfo has kept Bertarido’s exis- tence secret even from Rodelinda, and when she comes with Flavio to mourn at the tomb he restrains Bertarido from rushing into her arms. Bertarido and Unulfo over- hear her weeping for her husband’s fate (‘Ombre, piante’). Garibaldo interrupts her with an ultimatum from Grimoaldo: if Rodelinda will not marry him, her son will die. Rodelinda, apparently defeated, consents, but vows to have Garibaldo’s death as her price (‘Morrai, sì’). Garibaldo reports his success to Grimoaldo, who promises to protect him from Rodelinda: he is king and can set the terms of justice to suit himself (‘Se per te’).