This year is the 300th anniversary of the premiere of Handel’s Rodelinda, an occasion that will be marked with an exhibition in the London house where the opera was written. 

The centre piece of the exhibition at Handel Hendrix House – the Brook Street museum dedicated to composer, and indeed that of a fellow musician who lived there two centuries later, Jimi Hendrix – will be a rarely-seen portrait of the castrato Senesino (Francesco Bernardi) by John Vanderbank, depicting the singer as Bertarido, the role he sang at the work's premiere. It depicts the character contemplating his own memorial, the moment at which Bertarido sings the aria ‘Dove sei’. The exhibition will also feature an early libretto of the opera, portraits of other cast members and objects illustrating opera-going culture from the period.

‘Rodelinda is the second of the three masterpieces Handel wrote just after moving into Brook Street, which would be his home and place of work for over 30 years,’ said Olwen Foulkes, curator of the exhibition. ‘Paintings and descriptions of singers’ costumes from this time are rare, and we hope that this exhibition will help our visitors to immerse themselves in the world of Rodelinda’s first performance.’

Francesca Cuzzoni, a star soprano of the period, sang the title role in the premiere, which took place at the King’s Theatre, Haymarket on February 13, 1725 – February 13 being the day the exhibition opens. Rodelinda went on to be the first of Handel’s operas revived in the 20th century, at Göttingen in 1920.

The exhibition about Rodelinda runs at Handel Hendrix House between February 13 and July 6. See handelhendrix.org for details.

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A recording of Rodelinda, performed by The English Concert and conductor Harry Bicket, and featuring soloists Lucy Crowe and Iestyn Davies, on the Linn label, was a Gramophone Editor's Choice in July 2021. You can listen below via Presto Classical.