Handel Rinaldo opera to a libretto by Aaron Hill and Giacomo Rossi. Directed 2020 by Pier Luigi Pizzi at the Teatro del Maggio Musicale Fiorentino after an original production by Pizzi at the Teatro Valli di Reggie Emilia dating back to 1985. Stars Carmela Remigio (Armida); Leonardo Cortellazzi (Goffredo); Francesca Aspromonte (Almirena); Raffaele Pe (Rinaldo); Andrea Patucelli (Argante); Shixun Li (A Herald); Marilena Ruta and Valentina Corò (A woman/Two mermaids); William Corrò (A Christian magician). Federico Maria Sardelli conducts the Orchestra del Maggio Musicale Fiorentino. Set and costume design by Pier Luigi Pizzi; assistant direction and lighting design by Massimo Gasparon. Directed for TV by Tiziano Mancini; sound recorded, edited, and mixed by MASClassica Audio Recording (Claudio Speranzini, Antonio Martino). Sung in Italian. Released in 2021, disc has 5.1 dts-HD Master Audio sound. Grade: A+
I think Pizzi is the Godfather of Italian opera directors. He has directed in most of the biggest opera houses all over the world. But he remained loyal and has directed in many small houses and festivals in Italy. In 2022, he has credits in 10 opera titles reviewed on this website. If Pizzi actually went to Florence for this Rinaldo, he would have been about 90 years old. His trademark might be the restrained but dramatic use of form and color in his designs. My favorite opera set remains Pizzi’s Madama Butterfly at the Macerata Festival where he made a grand outdoor production that mostly looks cozy and intimate in video.
In his Rinaldo, Pizzi goes a different direction. Here he creates, on a small stage, heroic races of people who appear as living, ancient statutes surrounded by huge waves of billowing fabric. Because Pizzi is going for maximum visual impact, he cuts the libretto on a crash diet: his show lasts just a bit more than 2 hours. (The Naples version of Rinaldo lasts 3 and 1/2 hours.)
Meet the Commander of the Crusaders, Goffredo (Leonardo Cortellazzi):
The Commander will rely on the Knight Rinaldo (Raffaele Pe) to lead his men into battle:
Rinaldo wants to marry Goffredo’s daughter, Almirena (Francesca Aspromonte). She is a practical girl. She says, “Win the war first. Then you win my heart.” You can see below that the singers are tethered to platforms that can be moved about by stagehands. The singers sometimes sit on statutes of horses which are in turn mounted on the mobile platforms:
Oh, yes . . . there is a war going on. Goffredo is trying to conquer Jerusalem as part of the First Crusade. Argante, King of the Saracens (Andrea Patucelli), is the defender:
A close-up of Argante—he explains that he’s relying on a sorceress:
The sorceress is Armida, who travels in a chariot drawn by dragons. She recruits from Hell. Below she drafts the Furies to join her in battle:
Below a close up of Carmela Remigio as Armida:
If Armida can neutralize Rinaldo, the defenders will win:
Conductor Federico Maria Sardelli provides Handel’s famous bird call music:
Rinaldo and Almirena exchange loving promises floating on tinted clouds:
Until Armida, aided by the forces of Hell, finds them and kidnaps Almirena:
Rinaldo searches for his sweetheart on land and by sea. Pizzi knows what mermaids are supposed to look like—enjoy:
Poor Almirena is imprisoned. Argante falls in love with her, but she refuses his advances. She just wants to sing the famous aria, “Lascia ch’io pianga”:
Pizza spices up his presentation with what we now call science-fiction fantasy art. Rinaldo visits a Christian magician (William Corrò)on a mysterious island to find an antidote to Armida’s magic:
Next below a close-up of the Christian magician:
The magician gives Rinaldo a wand of flowers to protect him as he climbs the magic mountain where Armida holds Almirena in chains. Could this have inspired Mozart to think about a magic flute?
Almirena is saved and Argante/Armida defeated:
The evil duo convert and promise to play nice as subjects of Goffredo. The new King of Jerusalem is magnanimous:
We end with the Moral of the Story:
With such a successful staging over so many years, maybe more people have seen Pizzi’s Rinaldo than have seen all the other Rinaldo productions combined.
David Vicars, writing in the August 2021 Gramophone at pages 77-78, complains of cuts and rearrangements made by Pizzi from the original libretto. But he goes on to say, ”Albeit uneven in conception and execution, Pizzi’s imaginative staging remains eye-catching and entertaining after nearly 40 years.” I’ll note that Pizza also managed to get men to sing all the important male roles. By avoiding females in trousers, Pizzi gets a balanced sound. (Many Rinaldo shows seem strained with too many female voices.) All of Pizzi’s singers and the band are fine. SQ is good as is PQ, which is remarkable in view of the mostly dark stage. Sum up: this is a beautiful, efficient, time-tested Rinaldo that should appeal to both classical and romantic types in the audience. A+
Here’s an official trailer:
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