What happened?

Act 1: The opera begins as Rodelinda laments the loss of her husband, Bertarido. Grimoaldo confesses his love for her, but Rodelinda rejects him and his offer of her rightful throne. Grimoaldo complains to Garibaldo about this and Eduige, the woman to whom he was pledged, decides to break off the engagement. Garibaldo then reveals that he will pretend to love Eduige for his own gain. 

It is then revealed that Bertarido is alive. He is in disguise, and had spread the word of his death ti be able to return in secret to carry away his wife and son to safety. Unolfo, his advisor, finds him, and restrains him from revealing his existence to his wife, Rodelinda, for the safety of them all. Garibaldo threatens to kill Rodelinda’s son, Flavio, unless she agrees to marry Grimoaldo. She reluctantly agrees, but reminds them when she is queen again she will have the power to execute them. 

Act 2: Garibaldo informs Eduige of the recent events. When she discovers she has lost Grimoaldo, she is enraged, and this is aggravated further when Garibaldo proposes to her, and vows to take her revenge. 

Rodelinda agrees to marry Grimoaldo on the condition that he kill Flavio in front of her with his bare hands, as she cannot be mother to the rightful king whilst embracing the usurper. Garibaldo tries to convince Grimoaldo that this is a bluff, whereas Unulfo insists he must behave nobly. Unulfo then leaves to tell Bertarido of his wife’s fidelity. 

Eduige recognises Bertarido and promises to help him rescue his wife and son. Unulfo then leaves to tell Rodelinda that her husband is alive. Rodelinda hugs Bertarido, and they are discovered by Grimoaldo, who, failing to recognise the man as Bertarido, criticises her hypocrisy and infidelity. To save her honour, Bertarido reveals himself, but Rodelinda, ready to sacrifice her honour for his life, denies it. Grimoaldo threatens that the man shall die regardless. 

Act 3: Eduige and Unulfo plan Bertarido’s escape from prison. Unulfo will lead him out of the prison to a garden. Meanwhile, Garibaldo tries to convince Grimoaldo that it is necessary to kill Bertarido to keep the Kingdom, however Grimoaldo is torn by his feelings. 

Unulfo drops a weapon into Bertarido’s cell to help him escape, however Bertarido wrongly assumes he is an assassin, and injures Unulfo before he knows it is him. Unnulfo, despite being fatally wounded, still gets him changed and leads Bertarido to the garden. 

Rodelinda, accompanied by Flavio and Eduige goes to rescue Bertarido himself. Finding Bertarido’s clothes covered in Unulfo’s blood she assumes the worst. 

Unulfo leaves to find Rodelinda, and Bertarido leaves to kill Grimoaldo, filled with rage. Grimoaldo is haunted by his crimes. Garibaldo then attempts to kill him before Bertarido does, and as Bertarido sees him about to kill Grimoaldo decides to kill Garibaldo instead. 

Rodelinda finds Bertarido alive and the plan is explained to her. Grimoaldo decides to restore the throne to thank Bertarido for saving his life, and decides to marry Eduige. 

Which art forms were involved?

Watching the opera taught me about both musical performance and composition. 

A key part of the performance was acting. This opera is incredibly dramatic, and this emotion needs to be displayed through both the voice and body language. This is very different to recital performance, in which facial expression is incredibly key, as often small facial expressions cannot be identified from a distance. Instead, the performer uses their whole body, including their face, to display the emotions. When the countertenor sung Bertarido’s most famous aria, ‘Dove sei,’ I noted the way he used his hands, in particular, to display different emotions, such as clutching his heart to demonstrate grief, and reaching out, as if to portray longing. 

I have not listened to much baroque opera before, so this was very interesting. The orchestra was very small, and quite different to what I have seen before, with a theorbo, lute, and baroque style woodwind, which made for a very interesting sound. 

Have I seen something like this before?

No- this was my first time seeing an opera. In the past I have only heard operatic arias in isolation, for example at recitals. 

Was there anything unexpected about what I saw?

The orchestra consisted of many different instruments that are not found in modern orchestras.  For example, the theorbo which is a member of the lute family which is 1.5 meters or longer was something I had never seen before. 

What did I think was good and why?

I really loved the way that the opera was presented on stage. With minimal props and no backgrounds the performers managed to set the scene excellently. The costumes were very beautiful as well. 

The performers were all amazing, however the contralto stuck out to me. She had an incredibly powerful voice, and amazing acting skills. 

Overall the opera was a delightful experience and I would love to go see another one in the future. 

Was there anything about the event I didn’t like and why?

I struggled to follow the opera at times. Although it was very good, and the notes were very detailed, I felt that the guide was aimed at people who regularly frequented the opera, as it used a lot of difficult terminology and hence I felt it was not particularly helpful for someone like me who has not had that experience. I would have also appreciated it if there was more information on the background of the opera and the historical context.

How did it make me feel?

Without previous experience of attending an opera, I found that I needed to concentrate and focus on the music and the words to keep up with flow.  As such this was an intellectual exercise that left me with less scope for emotional involvement, though the effort left me exhausted at the end of the evening. I found it very interesting however, and extremely engaging. 

What have I learnt from this event?

As a baroque opera there were several instruments that would not be seen at other events and I researched some of these after the opera. The was a harpsichord accompanied by a bassoon for the basso continuo and this was something I had not come across before.

Items like the basson are found in modern orchestras - but many of the instruments were wooden variants which had a much more mellow tone compared to the modern variants which was also new to me.

What thoughts and ideas will I take away with me?

The use of the unusual instruments was a major item for me and I plan to research those in more detail.  Seeing the opera live highlighted the importance of all of the components of the opera - the bringing together of the instruments, the music and the singers alongside the stage craft.

How did this experience influence my own arts practice?

I hope to sing some more opera in the future and also to try composing some more operatic-style arias, and to practice writing recitative.