For Rodelinda, regina de’ Longobardi Haym adapted a libretto by
Antonio Salvi based on the tragedy Pertharite, roi des Lombards
by Pierre Corneille, the leading seventeenth-century French
playwright. This good literary source helped to give the opera
an unusually coherent plot and strong characterization. It was
first performed at the King’s Theatre on 13 February 1725, and
was revived twice by Handel. The kingdom of Lombardy has been
taken over by the usurper Grimoaldo. Bertarido, the true king,
has escaped to Hungary, but his wife Rodelinda and their young
son remain behind in the usurper’s power. Grimoaldo wants to
legitimize his rule by marrying Rodelinda. He accordingly
declares Bertarido to be dead, and sets up a funeral monument to
him. Rodelinda’s aria ‘Ombre, piante’ in Act 1 is sung as she
and her son visit this memorial in the cemetery of the Lombardic
kings. It is wonderfully expressive of her sad thoughts, the
halting phrases in both vocal line and accompaniment being
echoed mournfully by a solo