Rinaldo is an opera by George Frideric Handel composed in 1711, and was the first Italian language opera written specifically for the London stage. The libretto was prepared by Giacomo Rossi from a scenario provided by Aaron Hill, and the work was first performed at the Queen's Theatre in London's Haymarket on 24 January 1711. The story of love, battle and redemption set at the time of the First Crusade is loosely based on Torquato Tasso's epic poem Gerusalemme liberata ("Jerusalem Delivered"), and its staging involved many original and vivid effects. It was a great success with the public, despite negative reactions from literary critics hostile to the contemporary trend towards Italian entertainment in English theatres. Rinaldo was the most frequently performed during Handel's lifetime. However, after 1731 the opera was not staged for more than 200 years. Following a successful run at New York's Metropolitan Opera in 1984, performances and recordings of the work have become more frequent worldwide. Despite the lack of a standard edition, with its spectacular vocal and orchestral passages Rinaldo has been cited as one of Handel's greatest operas. Of its individual numbers the soprano aria "Lascia ch'io pianga" has become a particular favourite and is a popular concert piece. (more...)

Recently featured: HMS Indefatigable – To the People of Texas & All Americans in the World – Evolutionary history of lemurs

From Wikipedia's newest articles:

• ... that the British destroyer HMS Gallant (pictured) struck a mine on 10 January 1941 that blew the bow off the ship, and had to be towed stern-first to Malta by the destroyer HMS Mohawk?
• ... that Sir Richard Herbert was the illegitimate son of William Herbert, 1st Earl of Pembroke, and Maud, daughter of Adam ap Howell Graunt?
• ... that the 1641 edition Selva morale e spirituale by Claudio Monteverdi is considered his "most significant anthology of liturgical works since the Vespers in 1610"?
• ... that Charles Lapworth worked closely with both Eugene V. Debs and Charlie Chaplin?
• ... that the 1980 Ispaster attack was the Basque separatist group ETA's deadliest of 1980, the year in which they killed more people than any other?
• ... that Reed Hadley starred in two 1950s CBS drama television series, including The Public Defender in the role of an attorney for the indigent?
• ... that the Love Tester, created in 1969, was the first product by Nintendo to use real electronic components?
  
  Archive – Start a new article – Nominate an article

• An Indian court convicts thirty-one people of perpetrating the 2002 Godhra train burning, which led to communal riots in Gujarat.
• Behgjet Pacolli (pictured) is elected President of Kosovo.
• A 6.3-magnitude earthquake hits Christchurch and the surrounding Canterbury region in New Zealand, causing major damage and more than 100 deaths.
• Protests in Libya spread to Tripoli, as the government uses warplanes and mercenaries to attack the protesters.
• In stock car racing, Trevor Bayne becomes the youngest person to win the Daytona 500.
• The Iranian film Nader and Simin, A Separation, directed by Asghar Farhadi, wins the Golden Bear at the 61st Berlin International Film Festival.
  Wikinews – Recent deaths – More current events...

February 25: National Day in Kuwait (1950); Soviet Occupation Day in (Georgia (1921)

• 138 – Roman Emperor Hadrian adopted Antoninus Pius as his son and successor, after the death of his first adopted son Lucius Aelius.
• 1570 – Pope Pius V issued the papal bull Regnans in Excelsis to excommunicate Queen Elizabeth I and her followers in the Church of England.
• 1870 – Representing Mississippi in the Senate, Hiram Rhodes Revels (pictured) became the first African American to serve in the United States Congress.
• 1956 – In his speech On the Personality Cult and its Consequences to the 20th Party Congress, Soviet Leader Nikita Khrushchev denounced the personality cult and dictatorship of his predecessor Joseph Stalin.
• 1994 – Israeli physician Baruch Goldstein opened fire on Muslim Arabs praying at the mosque in Hebron's Cave of the Patriarchs, killing 29 people and wounding 125 others.

More anniversaries: February 24 – February 25 – February 26