Rinaldo was the first opera Georg Friederich Handel produced for London and the first Italian opera composed specifically for the London stage. Even now it's still one of his most performed opera's. In the aria Lascia ch'io Pianga sings kidnapped Almirena, the beloved of Rinaldo, her tragic fate in the enchanted garden of Armida (the ally of Rinaldo's rival Argante). The melody of this beautiful aria is known worldwide and for example used in the soundtrack of the movie Farinelli.
