Festival della Valle d'Itria stages the Neapolitan version of Handel's Rinaldo, which was considered lost until a few years ago. The score of Handels masterpiece was illegally brought to Naples by the castrato singer Nicolò Grimaldi, who first interpreted Rinaldo in London. Director Giorgio Sangati turns this work into a ba-rock opera set in the 1980s, where the struggle between Christians and Turks becomes a battle between pop-rock singers (the Christians) and dark-metal ones (the Turks). Fabio Luisi leads baroque Ensemble La Scintilla. Special mentions to Carmela Remigio (Armida, and Teresa Iervolino (Rinaldo) impressed the critics for her vocal and acting skills en travesti.

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