Rinaldo (opera) - Recordings

Recordings

The first full recording of Rinaldo (an "excerpts" disc had preceded it by two years) was made in 1977 by CBS, with Carolyn Watkinson in the title role, Ileana Cotrubaş as Almirena, and Jean-Claude Malgoire conducting La Grande Écurie et la Chambre du Roy. The work, recorded in a Paris church, was based on the 1711 score; Alan Blyth in Gramophone praised the standard of the singing, and despite reservations about the sound quality, called it one of the most enjoyable of available Handel opera recordings. There was no further recording of Rinaldo available until 1990, when John Fisher's heavily cut version from La Fenice was issued. Another decade passed before the appearance of Christopher Hogwood's 1999 Decca recording, again based on the original score, with the countertenor David Daniels as Rinaldo, Cecilia Bartoli as Almirena and Catherine Bott in the small part of First Mermaid. Gramophone's reviewer called this issue "a treat for Handel lovers - a rare recording of one of the composer's richest operas, with a strong and starry cast". Since then several more versions have been made available: Harry Bicket's 2001 recording for Arthaus, which was later issued as a DVD; René Jacobs with the Freiburg Baroque Orchestra for Harmonia Mundi in 2001; and a performance by the Aradia Ensemble under Kevin Mallon, recorded in 2004 and issued under the Naxos label in 2005.