Summary
THERE are a number of good reasons, if certain scholars are to be believed, for supposing that Handel was gay. His opera Rodelinda is emphatically not one of them. A tale of marital fidelity, it tells the story of a usurped king, Bertarido, who returns from exile to find his wife, Rodelinda, besieged by conspirators. She bravely holds fast to her love and is rewarded, as is the audience, with a happy reunion at the end.
To bring off this moving drama with some of the most brilliant music Handel ever wrote, you need a soprano and an alto of the highest calibre. Last night's concert performance with the Italian ensemble Il Complesso Barocco under Alan Curtis had exactly that, in the shape of Emma Bell and Sonia Prina.See the full content of this document
Extract
Classical Rodelinda Barbican Hall ****
Where Bell's evenly produced, immaculately schooled so...
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