Detroit Opera will present Handel’s Baroque “Rinaldo,” featuring Anthony Roth Costanzo, one of the world’s foremost countertenors, in the title role on Feb. 22, 28, and March 2.
“Rinaldo” is reported to have “dazzled” audiences since its first performances at London’s Queens Theatre in 1711. The opera promises “spectacular” arias, embellished in much the same way as in modern-day jazz. It is originally based on Tasso’s epic poem “La Gerusalemme liberate” (“Jerusalem delivered”), set during the First Crusade.
“Rinaldo’s” most famous tune is “Lascia ch’io pianga” (“Let me weep”), which Costanzo recorded on his Glass/Handel album. It has been performed by Joyce DiDonato, Lorraine Hunt Lieberson, Daniel Moody, Montserrat Caballé, Barbra Streisand, and more artists.
Music Director Roberto Kalb will conduct the three performances staged by German American director Louisa Proske.
Proske has updated “Rinaldo,” a love story between Rinaldo and Almirena. Originally set in Jerusalem during the time of the Christian Crusades in the 11th century, now the action is framed through the lens of a child’s fantasy in a contemporary pediatric ward. The young patients venture on a heroic journey, where knights, sorcerers, monsters, and magic are used as a salve for unimaginable challenges.
“’Rinaldo’ is a story about a hero who aborts his mission in order to save his beloved,” Proske explains. “Its imagination is wild, its proportions epic — it puts on stage an enchanted castle, a magician in a cave, a heroine abducted by a black cloud, a sorceress who shape-shifts, an entrance by dragon-drawn carriage through the sky, and no less than three battles, featuring knights, demons, and special magic wands. The imagination is childlike but the stakes are life or death.”
The cast will include soprano Elena Villalón as Almirena, soprano Nicole Heaston as Armida, countertenor Kyle Sanchez Tingzon as Goffredo, baritone Jusung Gabriel Park as Argante, and countertenor Nicholas Kelliher as Mago (Sorcerer). Rinaldo will be only the third Handel opera in Detroit Opera’s 53-year history, following Giulio Cesare in 2012 and Xerxes in 2023; it will be performed in Italian with English projected titles.
Costanzo has performed in opera, concert, recital, film, and on Broadway since age 11. Recent opera highlights include the title role of Gluck’s Orfeo and Philip Glass’s “Akhnaten” at the Metropolitan Opera, Nero/Julia’s Father in The Industry and Museum of Contemporary Art’s world premiere of “The Comet/Poppea,” and a 90-minute version of Mozart’s “Le nozze di Figaro” at New York City’s Little Island in which he sang all the parts.
“Rinaldo” at Detroit Opera House
- Feb. 22, 7:30 p.m.
- Fen. 28, 7:30 p.m.
- March 2, 2:30 p.m.
