Language: Italian
Subtitles: English, French, German, Spanish

Rodelinda, Regina de' Longobardi 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, based on an earlier libretto by Antonio Salvi. Rodelinda has long been regarded as one of Handel's greatest works.

Prior to the opening of the opera, Grimoaldo has defeated Bertarido, King of Lombardy, in battle and has usurped the throne of Milan. Bertarido has fled, leaving his wife Rodelinda and his son Flavio prisoners of the usurper in the royal palace. Failing to secure support to recover his crown, Bertarido has caused it to be reported that he has died in exile, a ruse to be used in an attempt to rescue his wife and son.

The handsome serious face, in a still shot, of a boy with wide open eyes, invaded the screen in the backdrop of the opening of Handel's Rodelinda. A rarely represented work, for which the Lille Opera has entrusted the new production to the director Jean Bellorini, already author of a Cenerentola by Rossini within its walls, in 2016. By reliving the action through the eyes of a child - Flavio, son of Queen Rodelinda and the missing king, Bertarido - the director abolishes the border between reality and fantasy. Is the child dreaming? Is he reliving a trauma? Is he condemned to die?

Director: Jean Bellorini (Director), Emmanuelle Haïm (Music Conductor)
Cast: Le Concert d'Astrée, (Rodelinda) Jeanine De Bique, (Bertarido) Tim Mead, (Grimoaldo) Benjamin Hulett, (Eduige) Avery Amereau, (Unolfo) Jakub Józef Orliński, (Garibaldo) Andrea Mastroni