Lascia ch’io pianga, from Rinaldo

Last Sunday, in the notes for Lully’s Armide, we discussed the magical love that bound the Christian knight Rinaldo to the sorceress Armide. Invented by Torquato Tasso for Gerusalemme liberata (1581), this legend was set as an opera on many occasions, including by George Frederick Handel (1685-1759). In 1711 Handel offered Rinaldo as the opening salvo in his campaign to conquer London audiences with Italian opera seria. Six months earlier Handel had become court composer to Prince Georg Ludwig, Elector of Hanover in Germany. Georg would eventually become George I of England in 1714, but Handel preceded his royal employer in London by several years.
London audiences knew little about Handel in 1711, but Italian opera was already enjoying great popularity. Having lived and studied in Italy for several years, Handel was well-placed to exploit the latest craze. He received a commission in late 1710 to compose music based on Tasso. Written in barely two weeks, the glittering score for Rinaldo was successful from the start and would be revived many times throughout the 1720s and 1730s. Considering the blistering speed of composition, and knowing something about Handel’s usual working methods, we know that he borrowed heavily from his own previous Italian operas. A case in point is the beloved aria “Lascia ch’io pianga,” sung by Rinaldo’s beloved Almirena. This melody first turns up in Almira (1705) and was recycled in 1707 for the oratorio Il trionfo del Tempo e del Disinganno. In Rinaldo the music gives voice to pure pleading as Almirena laments her captivity and separation from the knight. The mood is established by slow triple meter, suggesting a noble sarabande, and perfectly restrained accompaniment that allows all attention to focus on the lyric aspect. With these attributes, it is little wonder that “Lascia ch’io pianga” has taken on life as a concert aria and encore favorite quite apart from its role in Rinaldo.

(c) Jason Stell