Rinaldo

Almirena's recitative, and few bars of "Lascia ch'io pianga", from Handel's 1711 autograph score

Rinaldo (HWV 7) is an opera by George Frideric Handel, composed in 1711, and was the first Italian-language opera written specifically for the London stage. The libretto was prepared by Giacomo Rossi from a scenario provided by Aaron Hill, and the work was first performed at the Queen's Theatre in London's Haymarket on 24 February 1711. The story of love, war and redemption, set at the time of the First Crusade, is loosely based on Torquato Tasso's epic poem Gerusalemme liberata ("Jerusalem Delivered"), and its staging involved many original and vivid effects. It was a great success with the public, despite negative reactions from literary critics hostile to the contemporary trend towards Italian entertainment in English theatres.