About the production

At its seventh edition, Rossi Fest had the honour of announcing the premiere of George Frideric Handel’s famous Baroque opera Rinaldo, produced by the New Belgrade Opera. The performances took place in Belgrade at the Jewish Cultural Centre on Tuesday, 30 January 2024, and in the synagogue in Novi Sad on Wednesday, 31 January 2024.

This masterpiece, the first opera Handel wrote for a London audience, is one of the high points of Baroque musical drama and art. Directed by Sreten Manojlović and conducted by Predrag Gosta, the New Trinity Baroque ensemble and international soloists, participants of the Belgrade Baroque Academy, delighted the audience with a performance on historical instruments.

The vocal soloists, participants of the 22nd Belgrade Baroque Academy, worked on this opera with the support of mentors recognised in the world of early music – vocal coach and countertenor Nicholas Clapton from Great Britain, conductor and harpsichordist Predrag Gosta, and the acclaimed bass-baritone Sreten Manojlović, who also directed the production. The orchestral accompaniment, under Predrag Gosta, was entrusted to the participants of the Baroque workshop for instrumentalists, led by violinist Adrian Butterfield from Great Britain, with the support of the New Trinity Baroque ensemble.

The realization of the opera was helped by the Vojvodina Association for Early Music, Studio for Early Music Belgrade, New Belgrade Opera, Musical Youth of Novi Sad, Italian Institute in Belgrade, and Rossi-fest.