Review Roundup: The English Concert - RINALDO by Handel at Carnegie Hall

Handel knew how to put on a show. With Rinaldo, the first Italian opera written for the London stage, he created a thrilling crowd-pleaser. Rinaldo dazzles with its expressive arias, like the plaintive "Lascia ch'io pianga," one of the most popular soprano arias ever written. Rinaldo's spectacular instrumental writing is unsurpassed, with rousing trumpets, drums, strings, and oboe in the martial aria "Or la tromba" and show-stopping harpsichord pyrotechnics-originally improvised by Handel-in the fiery aria "Vo' far guerra."

Over the past few seasons, Harry Bicket has brought us performances of the three great final Italian operas Handel wrote in the 1730s. Now he turns to the very beginning of Handel's career in London and his first operatic triumph, Rinaldo. Still one of his most admired operas, it instantly made his name in the English capital. It is filled with some of his most beloved music, including "Augelletti, che cantate," "Bel piacere," "Cara sposa," and the coloratura-and-trumpet masterpiece "Or la tromba."

Let's see what the critics have to say!

Anthony Tommasini, NY Times: If I were recommending a program to someone fairly new to classical music, I wouldn't immediately think of "Rinaldo" in concert. It's long (nearly three hours of music) and, hewing to the conventions of Italian opera seria, it's structured as a seemingly endless series of so-called da capo arias. Taken at face value, the story - a love tangle set during the Crusades - is full of improbable plot twists designed to let the characters milk some emotion and display their voices.

George Grella, NY Classical Review: Davies was exceptional. his dark, strong countertenor marking fine contrast to Orlinski's warm, mellow sound, the former carrying gravity, while the latter filled in narrative moments with companionable good feeling. Davies, Cooke, and Pisaroni performed with dramatic weight, building their characters with a seriousness that went beyond just the notes.

David Salazar, Opera Wire: Countertenor Iestyn Davies put on a polished and elegant performance as the eponymous hero. While he didn't have the heft for the massive ensemble playing of "Or la tromba" at the climax of the entire event, but his voice resonated beautifully through the historic theater. His rendition of the Act one closer "Venti turbini" was a massive crowd pleaser, the countertenor throwing off the bravura runs with ease. You felt like he was just riding a wave with no sign of difficulty and it was difficult not to get excited by every display of technical brilliance. But that isn't to say that he didn't exhibit brilliant musicianship; there was composure in his singing throughout, each phrase sculpted gloriously. Nowhere was this more present than in the duet with Almirena or the touching "Cara sposa." The lines of that famed aria wept delicately with the contrasting middle section featuring him at his most energized and vibrant. The duet with Armida was also quite memorable for the tenor's ability to match his vocal rival line for line, the elegant sound taking on an edgier quality to express his rejection.

Richard Sasanow, BroadwayWorld: Equally enthralling was soprano Joelle Harvey as Almirena, daughter of Goffredo and beloved of Rinaldo, with her sweet, flexible voice quite delectable from her first appearance, egging Rinaldo on to war in "Combatti da forte," to one of the opera's most famous arias, "Bel piacere" (recycled from Handel's earlier AGGRIPINA), filled with varying rhythms and accents, when she has been rescued from Armida's grasp. In the pants role of Goffredo (head of the Crusader army), mezzo Sasha Cooke took a rather ungrateful role and made it work, with her rich, honeyed voice. Her best moment (for me) was her ripely sung "Sorge nel petto" ("I feel pleasure in my breast") in Act III.<

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