Handel's Rinaldo

'Bicket's band is in its element in this repertoire' - Sunday Times

The English Concert
Harry Bicket director/harpsichord
Iestyn Davies Rinaldo
Jane Archibald Armida
Sasha Cooke Goffredo
Joelle Harvey Almirena
Jakub Jozef Orlinski Eustazio
Luca Pisaroni Argante

‘Like a globe-travelling relative who returns bearing marvellous gifts, The English Concert continues to appear at Carnegie Hall bearing one gorgeous Handel opera after another...’ (New York Classical Review). This season is no different. Reunited with countertenor Iestyn Davies in the title role, we return with a tale of knights, magic and a kidnapped heroine in Handel’s first opera for the London stage, Rinaldo.

Watch highlights of our last tour Ariodante with an all-star cast led by Joyce DiDonato:

Joyce DiDonato, Harry Bicket: Handel's Ariodante on medici.tv.

In Profile: Iestyn Davies (Rinaldo)

‘Ever since being strapped in a harness atop a bicycle and told to pedal through the air whilst singing Venti turbini at Glyndebourne a few years ago, I’ve looked forward more and more to concert performances of this wonderful opera! It’s an evening of pure Handelian flare. The young composer uses everything in his compositional arsenal to charm and delight; it is no coincidence this was his big arrival piece in London in 1711. The highlight for me is the chance to sing Cara sposa, an aria that even Handel himself claimed was the greatest he ever wrote. I can’t wait to work on this piece again with Harry Bicket and The English Concert. It marks the opening of Handel’s operatic innings in England and set the standard for the following half a century’. – Iestyn Davies

SOLOISTS
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About
Harry Bicket: Artistic Director

Harry Bicket is internationally renowned as an opera and concert conductor of distinction, appointed Artistic Director of The English Concert in 2007

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Soloist
Iestyn Davies: Rinaldo

Iestyn Davies is a British countertenor widely recognised as one of the world’s finest singers celebrated for the beauty and technical dexterity of his voice and intelligent musicianship. Critical recognition of Iestyn’s work can be seen in two Gramophone Awards, a Grammy Award, a RPS Award for Young Singer of the Year, the Critics’ Circle Award and recently an Olivier Award Nomination.Although...

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Soloist
Joelle Harvey: Almirena

"Susanna Hurrell and Joélle Harvey sound terrific as Erisbe and Sicle respectively...A more exquisite evening would be hard to imagine." Tim Ashley, The Guardian, 2014

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Soloist
Xavier Sabata: Rinaldo

After early successes working with William Christie and Les Arts Florissants, he now also appears with such ensembles as Europa Galante, Collegium 1704, the Venice Baroque Orchestra, I Barocchisti, Al Ayre Español, El Concierto Español and Orquesta Barroca Sevilla, and collaborates with conductors such as Fabio Biondi, René Jacobs, Jordi Savall, Alan Curtis, Gabriel Garrido, Fabio Bonizzoni, Diego...

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Soloist
Sasha Cooke: Goffredo

Grammy Award-winning mezzo-soprano Sasha Cooke has been called a “luminous standout” (New York Times) and “equal parts poise, radiance and elegant directness” (Opera News).

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Jane Archibald: Armida

Her artistry has generated excitement across Europe and North America with recent engagements including Lucia and Konstanze in Zurich, Adele and Ophélie at the Met, Olympia, Zerbinetta and Cleopatra at the Opéra National de Paris, Sophie at La Scala Milan and in Berlin, Zerbinetta at Baden-Baden Festspielhaus, the Royal Opera House Covent Garden and in Munich, as well as Semele at the Canadian Opera...

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Soloist
Luca Pisaroni: Argante

Luca Pisaroni’s diverse operatic repertoire includes performances of Enrico VIII in Anna Bolena at Opernhaus Zürich and Wiener Staatsoper; Alidoro in La Cenerentola and Caliban in The Enchanted Island at the Met; Le nozze di Figaro at Opéra National de Paris, San Francisco Opera, Vienna State Opera, and at the Bayerische Staatsoper; Leporello in Don Giovanni at Glyndebourne, the Metropolitan Opera,...

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Soloist
Jakub Jozef Orlinski

Last season saw Jakub in performances of Handel’s Messiah at Carnegie Hall with both Musica Sacra and Oratorio Society of New York, and for his debut with the Houston Symphony. He also sang the role of Ottone in Handel’s Agrippina with Juilliard Opera in conjunction with Carnegie Hall’s La Serenissima: Music and Arts From the Venetian Republic festival. He will join the Karlsruhe Handel Festival...

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