Harry Bicket will conduct a concert performance starring Lucy Crowe and Iestyn Davies
(Los Angeles) November 6, 2023 — LA Opera continues its 2023/24 season with a concert performance of George Frideric Handel's Rodelinda. After sensational appearance in Los Angeles with Alcina in 2021 and Solomon earlier this year, conductor Harry Bicket and his globe-trotting period-instruments orchestra, The English Concert, return with another dazzling baroque masterpiece.
Rodelinda is widely recognised as one of Handel’s greatest operas; a powerful work that weaves a compelling narrative of love, truth, power and resilience. In the face of dishonour and the loss of her loved ones, Rodelinda’s dignified resistance and exemplary spirit ultimately elevates her amongst her rivals.
Soprano Lucy Crewe, who previously appeared in Los Angeles as Morgana in The English Concert's 2021 presentation of Alcina, returns to sing the title role, opposite internationally acclaimed countertenor Iestyn Davies as her husband, the deposed king Bertarido. The cast also includes tenor Eric Ferring as Bertarido's nemesis, Grimoaldo; mezzo-soprano Christine Rice as Bertarido's grieving sister, Eduige, bass-baritone Brandon Cedel as the treacherous Garibaldo, and countertenor Aryeh Nussbaum Cohen as the faithful Unulfo.
The Artists
Internationally renowned as an opera and concert conductor of distinction, Harry Bicket is especially noted for his interpretation of baroque and classical repertoire. Since 2007, he has been Artistic Director of The English Concert, and he is also Music Director of the Santa Fe Opera. He is a regular guest at the Metropolitan Opera where he recently conducted Rodelinda and The Marriage of Figaro. He appears frequently in Europe, making his Paris Opera debut last season with Ariodante and returning this season for Giulio Cesare.
Under the artistic direction of Harry Bicket and principal guest Kristian Bezuidenhout, The English Concert is a period-instruments orchestra that has earned a reputation for combining urgency, passion and fire with precision, delicacy and beauty. One cornerstone of the orchestra’s annual season is its international Handel opera tour. Blossoming from an ongoing relationship with Carnegie Hall, the itinerary now regularly takes in LA Opera, the Theater an der Wien, Théâtre des Champs-Elysées, the Elbphilharmonie and Barbican Hall, and the roster of great halls continues to grow. This year, The English Concert launched an ambitious Handel for All project, which aims to film and make freely available all of Handel’s works online.
Soprano Lucy Crowe sings the title role of Rodelinda. With repertoire ranging from Purcell, Handel and Mozart to Verdi’s Gilda and Janáček’s Cunning Little Vixen, she was made an OBE in the 2023 King’s Birthday Honours. Recent opera highlights include her debut at the Dutch National Opera as Rodelinda; Musetta in La bohème and Poppea in Agrippina at London’s Royal Opera House; Susanna in The Marriage of Figaro at the Metropolitan Opera; and Pamina in The Magic Flute at the Gran Teatre del Liceu in Barcelona.
Countertenor Iestyn Davies, who sings the role of Bertarido in his first Los Angeles appearance, is known for his vocal agility in both Baroque and contemporary music. Highlights of his 2023/24 season include George Benjamin’s Written on Skin in Helsinki, Bach’s Christmas Oratorio with Les Violons du Roy in Quebec, Tolomeo in Giulio Cesare with Opéra National de Paris, Oberon in A Midsummer Night’s Dream with Atlanta Opera, and Ottone in L’incoronazione di Poppea with The English Concert in Barcelona and Madrid.
Click here to download photos of The English Concert and artist headshots.
Performance and Ticket Information
The concert performance of Rodelinda will take place at 7:30pm on Tuesday, November 21, at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion, located at 135 North Grand Avenue, Los Angeles, CA 90012.
Tickets begin at $17 and are on sale now. Tickets can be purchased online at LAOpera.org, by phone at 213.972.8001, or in person at the LA Opera box office at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion (135 N. Grand Avenue, Los Angeles CA 90012). For disability access, call 213.972.0777 or email LAOpera@LAOpera.org.
Rodelinda will be sung in Italian, with projected supertitles.
More information about this performance is available at LAOpera.org/Rodelinda.
About LA Opera
Los Angeles is a city of enormous diversity and creativity, and LA Opera is dedicated to reflecting that vibrancy by redefining what opera can be. Through imaginative new productions, world premiere commissions, and inventive performances that preserve foundational works while making them feel fresh and compelling, LA Opera has become one of America’s most exciting and ambitious opera companies.
In addition to its mainstage performances at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion, the company explores unusual repertoire each season through the LA Opera Off Grand initiative, featuring performances in a variety of venues throughout Los Angeles. The LA Opera Connects initiative offers a robust variety of educational programming and community engagement offerings that reaches people throughout every corner of Los Angeles County. The company also offers a multitude of online content via its LA Opera On Now digital offerings, which launched in 2020. Learn more at LAOpera.org.
LA Opera Media Contact
Marlene Meraz
Director of Communications
mmeraz@laopera.org
213.972.7554
Special support from
Mr. Robert Finnerty and Mr. Richard Cullen
LA Opera is a nonprofit organization dedicated to serving the greater Los Angeles community.
