Faramondo

Faramondo, HWV 39, is an opera in three acts by George Frideric Handel to an Italian libretto adapted from Apostolo Zeno's Faramondo.

Performance history

Zeno's libretto was first performed on 27 December 1698 to music by Carlo Francesco Pollarolo in Venice (Il Faramondo). In 1719 Nicola Porpora used it at the Teatro San Bartolomeo in Naples, and Francesco Gasparini at the Teatro Alibert in Rome. The libretto for Gasparini was considerably revised, and it was this version, after further removing about half the recitatives, that Handel used. Handel's Faramondo was first performed at the King's Theatre, London, on 3 January 1738. There were 8 performances and it was never revived. The first modern production was at the Handel Festival, Halle (then in East Germany), on 5 March 1976.

The American premiere was performed in concert version by The Handel Opera Company in Berkeley, California, on 23 February 1985, Handel's 300th birthday. The performance was conducted from the harpsichord by Bruce Wetmore and used an English-language translation by Wetmore (recitatives) and Guy Pugh (arias). The Göttingen International Handel Festival staged a revival in 2014 (six performances), conducted by Laurence Cummings and directed by Paul Curran. This production served as the opera's Australian premiere during the 2015 Brisbane Baroque festival (four performances).