With this DVD and Blu-ray of Rodelinda, one of Handel’s most emotionally complex operas, conductor Emmanuelle Haïm adds to her impressive Erato catalogue of the composer’s works. The imaginative production, by Jean Bellorini, was seen at the Opéra de Lille in Autumn 2018, and the cast features soprano Jeanine De Bique in the title role, countertenor Tim Mead as her husband Bertarido and another countertenor, Erato’s rising star Jakub Józef Orliński as Unulfo. Reviewing the production, Le Monde noted Emmanuelle Haïm’s “intimate connection with this music, which she knows how to unleash in all its violence, passion and heart-wrenching expressivity.”
Emmanuelle Haïm (born 11 May 1962 in Paris) is a French harpsichordist and conductor with a particular interest in early music and Baroque music.
Rodelinda, regina de' Longobardi (HWV 19) is an opera seria in three acts composed for the first Royal Academy of Music by George Frideric Handel (1685 - 1759). The libretto is by Nicola Francesco Haym, based on an earlier libretto by Antonio Salvi. Rodelinda has long been regarded as one of Handel's greatest works