It should come as no surprise that Aaron Hill, the director of the Queen’s Theatre in London, when wanting to introduce Italian opera to English audiences, chose a fragment from the famous work Jerusalem Delivered as the theme of the first premiere. The brilliant epic poem by Torquato Tasso combines historical themes (the story takes place during the First Crusade) with the Christian ethos and the world of magic. Set in this context, the captivating love story and compelling characters make the text a perfect premise for musical drama. The artistry of the Renaissance work had already been appreciated by Claudio Monteverdi, who devoted multiple madrigals to selected themes. What’s more, operas with libretti based on fragments of Tasso’s poem were composed by Giulio Caccini, Jean Baptiste Lully, and, of course, Georg Friedrich Haendel, among others.
The libretto for Rinaldo – an opera commissioned from a young but already recognized composer who had just arrived on the British Isles – was written by Giacomo Rossi based on a screenplay by Aaron Hill. According to his account, it took Haendel only two weeks to compose the score. The numerous borrowings from his earlier works did not even in the slightest affect the quality of the new opera. The first performances took place in 1711 and received an enthusiastic reception. After twenty years of staging the work revised by the composer himself, the opera disappeared from opera houses for almost 200 years. Rediscovered in the 20th century, it is today considered one of the most exemplary works of Haendel in this genre and continues to inspire artists and music lovers alike.
