Gennari Rinaldo

Mario Bernardi revived the Horne-Corsaro ''Rinaldo'' for the National Arts Center of Canada, and a new and much more elaborate production designed by Mark Negin had a great success at Festival Ottawa in the summer of 1982. ''Rinaldo'' is in essence Marilyn Horne's production. She sings the title role in a version that has been tailored specifically for her vocal powers, and she has obviously had a lot to say about the hows and the whos of this production.

On February 24 1711, the curtain at the Haymarket theater went up for 'Rinaldo,' the first opera George Frideric Handel produced for London. It had a libretto by Giacomo Rossi, based on a somewhat mangled outline of Tasso's epic poem of the Crusades, 'Gerusalemme Liberata,' which had been prepared by impresario Aaron Hill with the aim of allowing for as many special machinery effects as possible. Handel clearly wanted to impress London, for his sparkling music contained liberal borrowings from some of his best recent scores. While many changes and cuts were made up to the time of Handel1s final revision in 1731, this recording attempts as much as possible to return to the version that would have been heard in the first London production.

This is a reissue of a recording that was previously issued by Nuova Era and Mondo Musica. It allows us to hear Marilyn Horne in one of her signature roles, and it was presumably for her that this production was mounted at Venice’s La Fenice. Horne’s performance is what one would expect; she tosses off the coloratura with ease, and her performance is very assured. Her colleagues provide generally good support. Gasdia does not make as strong an impression as some of her recorded competition as Almirena, but her singing is technically assured.

The musical partnership of violinist Enrico Gatti and harpsichordist Rinaldo Alessandrini now goes back a number of decades to when this pair of Italians, both with a voracious appetite for early music, were setting out on their careers. The years pass and both artists make fabulous recordings, often directing their own ensembles.

This reissue fills an important gap in that no other recording of Rinaldo is available. Critical response to this cantata has been very mixed over the years, but if detractors of the past had been able to hear Abbado's performance they might be more impressed. To this listener it certainly seems a richly inventive, deeply felt work, and very typical of its composer. When Abbado recorded Rinaldo in 1968 he was near the beginning of his recording career, and there is a fresh, eager response in his conducting. The Ambrosians sing beautifully, the orchestra is excellent and James King is a committed soloist, though some might find his somewhat strenuous delivery rather unattractive.