Performance History
Rodelinda was first performed at the King’s Theatre in the Haymarket, London, on 13 February 1725. It was produced with the same singers as Tamerlano. There were 14 performances; it was repeated on 18 December 1725, and again on 4 May 1731, a further 16 performances in all, each revival including changes and fresh material. In 1735 and 1736 it was also performed, with only modest success, in Hamburg at the Oper am Gänsemarkt. The first modern production - in heavily altered form - was in Göttingen on 26 June 1920 where it was the first of a series of modern Handel opera revivals produced by the Handel enthusiast Oskar Hagen. By 1927 Hagen's version had been performed 136 times in Germany. The opera reached the US in 1931 and was revived in London in 1939.
A UK production was presented at the Glyndebourne Festival in 1998. Directed by Jean-Marie Villégier and conducted by William Christie, this highly-praised production featured Anna Caterina Antonacci in the title role and Andreas Scholl as Bertarido.
The first performance of Rodelinda at the Metropolitan Opera was on 2 December 2004 in a production by Stephen Wadsworth and conducted by Harry Bicket. It featured Renée Fleming in the title role, David Daniels as Bertarido, Kobie van Rensburg as Grimoaldo, Stephanie Blythe as Eduige, John Relyea as Garibaldo and Bejun Mehta as Unulfo. It received nine performances that season and five others in May 2006, this time with Andreas Scholl as Bertarido, Christophe Dumaux as Unulfo, and conducted by Patrick Summers. The production was revived during the 2011 season, again with Fleming, Blythe, and Scholl.
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