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. The libretto is by Nicola Francesco Haym, and was based on an earlier libretto by Antonio Salvi set by Giacomo Antonio Perti in 1710. Salvi's libretto originated with Pierre Corneille's play Pertharite, roi des Lombards (1653), based on the history of Perctarit, king of the Lombards in the 7th century. Rodelinda has long been regarded as one of Handel's greatest works.
Original Name
Rodelinda, regina de Longobardi
Librettist
Nicola Francesco Haym, after Antonio Salvi, 1710, from Pierre Corneille's "Pertharite, roi des Lombards"
Date of composition
1725
(1724-1725)
Premiered
1725, February 13th
(King's Theatre in the Haymarket)
in London, UK