RODELINDA
George Frideric Handel
Event details
13 June - 19 July 2025
Handel wrote some of his most beautiful and characterful music for Rodelinda. Hatred and despair, thwarted love and resentment, and a fierce desire for revenge all combine to make a narrative of extraordinary power and potency. Director Ruth Knight collaborates with international award-winning designer Leslie Travers for this Handel masterpiece which will be conducted by Baroque specialist and Olivier Award winner, Peter Whelan.
Before the opera begins, King Bertarido has been defeated in battle by Grimoaldo, who has usurped his throne. Bertarido has been able to escape and has allowed rumours of his death to circulate in the hopes of rescuing his wife Rodelinda, their young son Flavio and his sister Eduige, who he had to leave behind. Returning in secret he discovers that Grimoaldo, despite being pledged to marry Eduige, is pursuing Rodelinda relentlessly, determined to force her into marriage if she refuses willingly to love him.
Sung in Italian with English supertitles
Please note, reflecting the plot of the opera, there are some depictions of violence in this production.
13 June - 19 July 2025
13 June - 19 July 2025
Cast & Creative Team
Cast
Rodelinda
Lucy Crowe
Bertarido
Tim Mead
Grimoaldo
Ed Lyon
Eduige
Marvic Monreal
Unulfo
Hugh Cutting
Garibaldo
Brandon Cedel
Flavio (silent)
Nicholas Thurbin
Gundeberto (silent)
Will Hodson
Creative Team
Conductor
Peter Whelan
Director
Ruth Knight
Designer
Leslie Travers
Lighting Designer
Ben Pickersgill
Movement / Assistant Director
Rebecca Meltzer
The English Concert
Videos
Reviews
★★★★★
“A feast of glorious singing, brilliant production and the most accomplished orchestral performance you could ever hope to hear”
Melanie Eskenazi, Music OMH, 14 June
★★★★
“Knight allows the opera’s many powerful moments space to breathe, aided by a splendid cast”
Mark Pullinger, The Times, 16 June
★★★★
“In collaboration with Leslie Travers (design), Ben Pickersgill (lighting) and Rebecca Meltzer (movement and direction), Knight puts together an endless stream of memorable images that articulate the narrative while highlighting the swiftly changing atmosphere of this complex moral fable.”
George Hall, The Stage, 16 June
★★★★
“The cast, led by Lucy Crowe’s powerhouse Rodelinda and Tim Mead’s gloriously rich-toned Bertarido, is first-rate, the playing of the English Concert thrillingly energised.”
Erica Jeal, The Guardian, 16 June
★★★★
“Peter Whelan‘s energetic yet unfailingly sensitive direction of the English Concert was well-calibrated in every last measure”
Andrew Green, Opera Now, 16 June
★★★★
“This is Handel opera at its finest”
Roy Westbrook, Bachtrack, 16 June
“The English Concert and their musical director Peter Whelan brought Handel’s fabulous score to life in a performance of surpassing rhythmic energy, richly dramatic colouring and heart-breaking lyrical grace.”
Ivan Hewett, The Telegraph, 14 June
“This production of Rodelinda was a perfect example of what Garsington does best. With a cast that included Lucy Crowe and Tim Mead, and a smart, good-looking and surprisingly witty staging by Ruth Knight – on this showing a directorial rising star – it was pure operatic gold”
Clive Paget, Musical America, 20 June
“From an impressive cast, Lucy Crowe stands out in the title role, her firm, glowing voice drooping with melancholy and making a sympathetic counterpart for Tim Mead’s equally expressive Bertarido”
Richard Bratby, The Spectator, 27 June
“Handelians rank this opera among Handel’s operatic top ten, and the Garsington performance tells us why”
Hugh Canning, Operalogue, 28 June