Sunday Brunch – Handel: Rinaldo - Il vostro maggio de' bei verdi anni

Sunday Brunch Silliness

The plot of Handel’s Rinaldo is strange and hard to follow, which somehow encourages directors to make interesting interpretive choices. This Robert Carsen production from Glyndebourne is a delicious concoction of beautiful singing and playing, and a slightly silly, lighthearted take on the story. In this scene, the sorceress Almida has conjured up sirens to lure Rinaldo to her lair.

Rinaldo (Sonia Prina) with Sirens
(note their resemblance to Almirena)

Almirena (Anett Frisch)

The blackboard in this classroom is where a lot of the visions appear. Oddly, all of the sirens look just like Rinaldo’s girlfriend Almirena (and ever-so-slightly like Hermione!*) 

The sirens sing a love song; they frighten Eustazio, worry Goffredo, and intrigue Rinaldo. I grin like an idiot every time I watch this clip!

Il vostro maggio de' bei verdi anni

Here are two other clips from this production:

Tim Mead singing Siam prossimi! 

Luca Pisaroni singing Sibilar gli angui d’Aletto

 *Granger, not Gingold!