{"id":1493,"date":"2014-01-31T09:52:30","date_gmt":"2014-01-31T09:52:30","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.larkreviews.co.uk\/?p=1493"},"modified":"2014-01-31T09:52:30","modified_gmt":"2014-01-31T09:52:30","slug":"richard-jones-directs-enos-first-production-of-handels-rodelinda","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.larkreviews.wickedlemon.co.uk\/?p=1493","title":{"rendered":"Richard Jones directs ENO’s first production of Handel\u2019s Rodelinda"},"content":{"rendered":"

Building on ENO\u2019s reputation as the undisputed \u2018House of Handel\u2019, Richard Jones directs a new production of\u00a0Rodelinda,\u00a0<\/em>featuring a stellar British cast conducted by baroque specialist Christian Curnyn.<\/h1>\n

ENO\u2019s inaugural production of\u00a0Rodelinda\u00a0<\/em>follows on from previous successful productions of Handel operas including\u00a0Ariodante<\/em>\u00a0(1993),<\/em>Alcina (1999),Semele (1999), Jeptha<\/em>\u00a0(2005), Agrippina (2007), Messiah (2009), Partenope (2009), Radmisto (2010) Julius Caesar (2012)<\/em>and of course, Nicholas Hytner\u2019s seminal production of\u00a0Xerxes (1985).<\/em><\/p>\n

Widely considered to be one of Handel\u2019s operatic masterpieces,\u00a0Rodelinda\u00a0<\/em>is infused with compelling characters and ravishing music. It is an epic story of love, power and mistaken identity. Bertarido has been driven from his kingdom by Grimoaldo and is presumed dead, leaving behind his grieving wife, Rodelinda. Grimoaldo will imprison Rodelinda unless she agrees to marry him, but then the exiled king returns in disguise.<\/p>\n

Richard Jones\u2019s\u00a0Rodelinda\u00a0<\/em>transports the action from the dark ages to 1950s Italy, presenting the conflict between political manoeuvring and emotional relationships in an intense, direct way reminiscent of a contemporary, dark political thriller.<\/p>\n

Rodelinda is the third of five new productions Richard will direct for ENO before 2016, continuing his close relationship with the Company. In 2012, his\u00a0The Tales of Hoffman,\u00a0<\/em>was described as \u201cinspired\u201d by Evening Standard and Martin?\u2019s\u00a0Julietta,\u00a0<\/em>of which the Financial Times said, \u201cyou couldn\u2019t want a more intelligent or entertaining production\u201d.<\/p>\n

Conducting\u00a0Rodelinda\u00a0<\/em>is baroque specialist Christian Curnyn. Christian debuted at ENO in 2008 conducting the Olivier Award-winning production of\u00a0Partenope.\u00a0<\/em>Since then he has conducted a number of baroque operas for the company including\u00a0After Dido<\/em>,\u00a0Castor and Pollux\u00a0<\/em>(2012 Olivier Award for Best Opera Production),\u00a0Julius Caesar\u00a0<\/em>and most recently,\u00a0Medea<\/em>, described by The Independent as \u201cthe most brilliant show to have graced the Coliseum in years\u201d. Following\u00a0Rodelinda,\u00a0<\/em>Christian goes on to conduct\u00a0L\u2019Ormindo\u00a0<\/em>for The Royal Opera at the new Sam Wanamaker Theatre at the Globe.<\/p>\n

Leading an exceptional British cast in the title role of\u00a0Rodelinda\u00a0<\/em>is Rebecca Evans. Rebecca has previously performed at ENO as Romilda in\u00a0Xerxes\u00a0<\/em>and most recently as the Governess in David McVicar\u2019s production of\u00a0The Turn of the Screw,\u00a0<\/em>in a performance described by The Guardian as \u201csuperbly judged, utterly humane\u201d.<\/p>\n

Countertenor Iestyn Davies plays the usurped Bertarido. Iestyn most recently played Oberon in Christopher Alden\u2019s striking production of\u00a0A Midsummer Night\u2019s Dream<\/em>, described by New York Times as \u201cbrilliant\u201d.<\/p>\n

Internationally renowned tenor John Mark Ainsley plays Grimoaldo. John last performed at ENO as Emilio in\u00a0Partenope.\u00a0<\/em>Susan Bickley plays Eduige. Susan last sang at ENO in Richard Jones\u2019 production of\u00a0Julietta<\/em>.<\/p>\n

Christopher Ainslie, who made his ENO debut in 2012 in the role of Helicon in the UK premiere of Detlev Glanert\u2019s\u00a0Caligula<\/em>, plays the part of Unulfo.<\/p>\n

Completing the cast is Richard Burkhard, playing Garibaldo and Matt Casey, playing Flavio.<\/p>\n

Rodelinda<\/em>\u00a0opens at the London Coliseum on 28 February 2014 for 8 performances \u2013 28 February & March 4, 6, 11, 13 at 7pm, March 2 at 3pm and March 8, 15 at 6pm.<\/p>\n

Pre-performance talk: Tuesday 4 March, 5.00pm-5.45pm, \u00a35\/\u00a32.50 concessions<\/p>\n

A co-production with the Bolshoi Theatre of Russia<\/p>\n

New production supported by Dunard Fund, Colwinston Charitable Trust, Friends of ENO and a syndicate of individual donors<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Building on ENO\u2019s reputation as the undisputed \u2018House of Handel\u2019, Richard Jones directs a new production of\u00a0Rodelinda,\u00a0featuring a stellar British cast conducted by baroque specialist Christian Curnyn. ENO\u2019s inaugural production of\u00a0Rodelinda\u00a0follows on from previous successful productions of Handel operas including\u00a0Ariodante\u00a0(1993),Alcina … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.larkreviews.wickedlemon.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1493"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.larkreviews.wickedlemon.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.larkreviews.wickedlemon.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.larkreviews.wickedlemon.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.larkreviews.wickedlemon.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1493"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.larkreviews.wickedlemon.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1493\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1494,"href":"https:\/\/www.larkreviews.wickedlemon.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1493\/revisions\/1494"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.larkreviews.wickedlemon.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1493"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.larkreviews.wickedlemon.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1493"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.larkreviews.wickedlemon.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1493"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}