Francesca Cuzzoni, by Caldwell after Seeman

Francesca Cuzzoni (2 April 1696 – 19 June 1778) was an Italian operatic soprano of the Baroque era.

Early career[link]

Cuzzoni was born in Parma. Her father, Angelo, was a professional violinist, and her singing teacher was Francesco Lanzi. She made her debut in her home city in 1714, singing in La virtù coronata, o Il Fernando by an unknown composer. In 1716-17 she sang at Bologna in operas by Bassani, Buini, Gasparini and Giuseppe Maria Orlandini. By the 1717-18 season she had been appointed virtuosa da camera ("chamber soloist") to Violante Beatrice, Grand Princess of Tuscany, performing at Florence, Siena, Genoa, Mantua, and Reggio nell'Emilia in operas by Orlandini and Carlo Francesco Pollarolo, and in Vivaldi's Scanderbeg . She also made her Venetian debut in 1718, singing the role of Dalinda in Pollarolo's Ariodante, in which, for the first time, she appeared on the same stage as Faustina Bordoni, later her great rival. They also sang together in Venice the following year in Michelangelo Gasparini's Il Lamano, and in Il pentimento generoso by Stefano Andrea Fiorè, in which the redoubtable duo were joined by the famous castrato Antonio Maria Bernacchi. Having appeared at Florence and Milan (1719), Bologna, Florence and Turin (1720), and Padua (1721), she returned to Venice for the season of 1721-22, singing in five operas, including Orlandini's Nerone: she sang Poppea, Faustina Octavia, while the fine contralto Diana Vico was Agrippina.

Cuzzoni's first visit to London[link]

A caricature of a performance of Handel's Flavio, featuring Gaetano Berenstadt on the far right, the Cuzzoni in the centre and Senesino on the left.

Cuzzoni's arrival in the English capital was keenly anticipated in the press. Though the "London Journal" for 27 October 1722 reported that "Mrs. Cotsona [sic], an extraordinary Italian Lady, ... is expected daily", she apparently found time to marry Pietro Giuseppe Sandoni during her journey, and did not make her debut in London until 12 January 1723, creating the role of Teofane in Handel's Ottone at the King's Theatre, Haymarket. To an aria in her role, "Falsa immagine", there is attached a famous story, vividly illustrating both her character and that of the composer. The part not having been originally intended for her (but perhaps for Maddalena Salvai), at rehearsal she refused to sing this, her first aria. According to the historian John Mainwaring, Handel replied: "Oh! Madame I know well that you are a real she-devil, but I hereby give you notice, me, that I am Beelzebub, the Chief of Devils." Mainwaring continued: "With this, he took her up by the waist, and, if she made any more words, swore that he would fling her out of the window." According to Burney, her singing of this aria "fixed her reputation as an expressive and pathetic singer", and her success was such that the price of half-guinea opera tickets reportedly shot up to four guineas. By the time of her benefit concert only two months later, some noblemen were believed to be giving her fifty guineas a ticket. Her salary was also large: £2000 a season. Her appearance was no recommendation: Burney described her as "short and squat, with a doughy cross face, but fine complexion; ... not a good actress; dressed ill ; and was silly and fantastical."

Cuzzoni was a member of Handel's Royal Academy of Music (1719) for its remaining five years. He created nine roles for her, the most famous today being Cleopatra in Giulio Cesare and the title-role in Rodelinda. In the latter , she wore a brown silk dress trimmed with silver, "with the vulgarity and indecorum of which all the old ladies were much scandalized, the young adopted it as a fashion, so universally, that it seemed a national uniform for youth and beauty" (Burney). For this company she also sang in seven operas by Attilio Ariosti, four by Giovanni Bononcini and two pasticcios. The enthusiasm of her supporters led to quarrels with the fans of Senesino, and later with those of Faustina Bordoni, whose London debut was in Handel's Alessandro (1726). In this opera the importance of the two ladies' roles had to be very carefully balanced, which at one point in the opera's plot made Senesino, playing the name part, look a complete fool. Her rivalry with Faustina, fanned by the press, eventually became scandalous when, in a performance of Bononcini's Astianatte (6 June 1727), attended by princess Caroline, "Hissing on one Side, and Clapping on the other" gave rise to "Catcalls, and other great indecencies". Such was the rumpus that the performance, and the rest of that opera season, were abandoned. The satirical pamphleteers had a field day, depicting the two prime donne exchanging insults and pulling at one another's head-dresses, though recent research has revealed that it was the ladies' rival supporters, rather than the singers themselves, who were the cause of the disturbance. They were further lampooned in John Gay's The Beggar's Opera, which was premiered on 29 January 1728. In spite of such fracas they continued to sing together for Handel until his company's demise in June of that year.

A caricature of Cuzzoni, Farinelli and Heidegger, by Goupy after Ricci, c1729-30. In the accompanying verse Cuzzoni is referred to as "thou warbling bird", Farinelli as "thou tuneful scarecrow".

A continental interlude[link]

Cuzzoni spent the winter of 1728-29 in Vienna at the invitation of Count Kinsky (Imperial Ambasasador to London), but, in spite of her great success there was not engaged by the opera because she demanded too high a salary. Later in 1729 she sang at Modena and Venice, and in the autumn of that year, Handel's impresario Heidegger wished to engage both her and Faustina for the new "Second Royal Academy". Handel had had enough of both of them, however, and so Cuzzoni went instead to Bologna, Naples, Piacenza and Venice during 1730-31, and Bologna and Florence again during the following season, when, amongst others, she sang in operas by her husband (she never performed under his name). Their association continued during the carnival seasons of 1733 and 1734, when she appeared at Genoa.

In London again[link]

In 1733, a group of English aristocrats wished to set up an opera company to rival Handel's, and Cuzzoni was one of the first singers they approached. She returned in April 1734, joining the cast of Porpora's Arianna a Nasso. For this company, known as the "Opera of the Nobility", she sang in four more operas by Porpora, and others by Sandoni, Hasse, Orlandini, Veracini, Ciampi, the pasticcio Orfeo and even a version of Handel's Ottone. It would seem that she made less of an impression during this visit, not least due to the presence of the incomparably famous Farinelli in the same company.

Later career[link]

Nonetheless, Cuzzoni was still a force to be reckoned with. After the collapse of the Nobility Opera, she returned to the continent, singing in Florence in 1737-38, and at Turin the following year, when, for one carnival season, she received the huge fee of 8,000 lire. Later that year she sang at Vienna, and seems to have made her last operatic appearances in Hamburg in 1740. On 17 September 1741 the "London Daily Post" reported that Cuzzoni was to be beheaded for poisoning her husband, but, though they had separated by 1742, he did not die until 1748. She sang concerts in Amsterdam in 1742, and by December 1745 had become a court singer in Stuttgart. In debt, a condition she frequently suffered in her later life, she absconded from there to Bologna in 1748. Still needing to perform to pay her creditors, she was again in London in 1750, where Burney heard her "thin cracked voice" in a concert on 18 May. On 2 August of that year Horace Walpole wrote that "old Cuzzoni" had been arrested for a debt of £30, and bailed by the Prince of Wales. On 20 May 1751, the "General Advertiser" gave notice of a final benefit concert for Cuzzoni, accompanied by a letter from the singer in which she wrote: "I am so extremely sensible of the many Obligations I have already received from the Nobility and Gentry of this Kingdom ... that nothing but extreme necessity and a desire of doing justice, could induce me to trouble them again, but being unhappily involved in a few Debts, am extremely desirous of attempting every Thing in my Power to pay them, before I quit England ..."

Of her last years, little is known, save that she returned once more to the continent, and lived a poverty-stricken existence, eking out a living, it is said, making buttons. She died in Bologna. Of the two children she seems to have had by Sandoni, nothing is known - they may have died in infancy.

Cuzzoni as an artist[link]

Clearly, in her prime, Cuzzoni was a singer and artist of the first class. The well-known writer on singing, Giovanni Battista Mancini, gave a glowing testament to her art:

"It is difficult to decide whether she excels more in slow or in rapid airs. A "native warble" enabled her to execute divisions with such facility as to conceal their difficulty. So grateful and touching was her natural tone that she rendered pathetic whatever she sang, when she had the opportunity to unfold the whole volume of her voice. Her power of conducting, sustaining, increasing, and diminishing her notes by minute degrees acquired for her the credit of being a complete mistress of her art. Her trill was perfect: she had a creative fancy, and a command of tempo rubato. Her high notes were unrivaled in clearness and sweetness, and her intonation was so absolutely true that she seemed incapable of singing out of tune. She had a compass of two octaves, C to C in alt. Her style was unaffected, simple, and sympathetic."

Quantz wrote that "her style of singing was innocent and affecting" and that her ornaments "took possession of the soul of every auditor, by her tender and touching expression".

References[link]

• W. Dean and C. Vitali. "Cuzzoni, Francesca", Grove Music Online, ed. L. Macy (accessed 22 August 2007), grovemusic.com (subscription access).
• L. Goldman (ed.), Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, article "Cuzzoni, Francesca" by O. Baldwin and T. Wilson, consulted online 22 August 2007
• C. Burney, A General History of Music (London, 1789), Vol.4
• O. E. Deutsch, Handel, a Documentary Biography (London, 1955)
• J. Mainwaring, Memoirs of the Life of the late George Frederic Handel (London, 1760), p 110-111 [my translation of the first sentence - Handel spoke to Cuzzoni in French]
• G.B. Mancini, Pensieri e riflessioni pratiche sopra il canto figurato (Vienna, 1774)
• S Ograjenšek: "Francesca Cuzzoni and Faustina Bordoni: the Rival Queens?" 'Handel and the Divas' exhibition catalogue, Handel House Museum, London 2008, p 3-7

Further readings: C. Wier, "A Nest of Nightingales: Cuzzoni and Senesino at Handel's Royal Academy of Music," article in Theatre Survey 51:2 (November 2010).

Joyce DiDonato (born February 13, 1969) is an award-winning American operatic mezzo-soprano particularly admired for her interpretations of the works of Handel, Mozart, and Rossini. DiDonato has performed with many of the world's leading opera companies and orchestras. In 2012 she won a Grammy Award for Best Classical Vocal Solo.

Early life and education[link]

Joyce DiDonato was born Joyce Flaherty in Prairie Village, Kansas in 1969, the sixth of seven children in a close-knit Irish-American family. She sang in choir and musicals in high school and dreamed of becoming a Broadway star or pop singer.^[1] DiDonato entered Wichita State University (WSU) in the autumn of 1988 where she studied vocal music education. She was initially more interested in teaching high school vocal music and musical theatre and did not become interested in opera until her junior year, when she was cast in a school production of Die Fledermaus.^[2] After graduating from WSU in the spring of 1992, DiDonato decided to pursue graduate studies in vocal performance at the Academy of Vocal Arts.^[3] Following her studies in Philadelphia, she was accepted in Santa Fe Opera's young artist program in 1995. While there she appeared in several minor roles and understudied for larger parts in such operas as Mozart's Le nozze di Figaro, Richard Strauss' Salome, Kálmán's Gräfin Mariza and the 1994 world premiere of David Lang's Modern Painters. DiDonato was honored as the Outstanding Apprentice Artist by the Santa Fe Opera that year. In 1996 she became a part of Houston Grand Opera's young artist program where she sang from the autumn of 1996 to the spring of 1998. During the summer of 1997, DiDonato participated in San Francisco Opera's Merola Program.^[4]

During her apprentice years, DiDonato competed in several notable vocal competitions. In 1996 she won second prize in the Eleanor McCollum Competition and was a district winner of the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions. In 1997 she won a William Matheus Sullivan Award. In 1998 she won second prize in the Operalia Competition, first place in the Stewart Awards, won the George London Competition, and a received a Richard F. Gold Career Grant from the Shoshana Foundation.^[5]

Career[link]

DiDonato began her professional career in the 1998/1999 season singing with several regional opera companies in the United States. She most notably appeared as the main heroine, Maslova, in the world premiere of Tod Machover's Resurrection with the Houston Grand Opera.^[6] She gave a recital in San Francisco that year as part of the Schwabacher recital series.

In the 1999/2000 season, DiDonato performed the role of Meg in the world premiere of Mark Adamo's Little Women at Houston Grand Opera with Stephanie Novacek as Jo and Chad Shelton as Laurie. She performed the role of Cherubino in Mozart's Le nozze di Figaro with Santa Fe Opera and the role of Isabella in Rossini's L'italiana in Algeri with the New Israeli Opera. In addition, DiDonato gave a recital at New York's Morgan Library under the auspices of the George London Foundation and sang the mezzo-soprano solos in the Seattle Symphony's production of Handel's Messiah.^[7]

In the 2000/2001 season, DiDonato made her debut at La Scala as Angelina in Rossini's La Cenerentola, returned to Houston Grand Opera as Dorabella in Mozart's Così fan tutte, and sang the mezzo-soprano solos in Bach's Mass in B minor with the Ensemble Orchestral de Paris and conductor John Nelson.^[7] In 2000, DiDonato received the ARIA (Awards Recognizing Individual Artistry) award, which annually recognized American "vocal artists of exceptional ability and undeniable promise".^[5]

In the 2001/2002 season DiDonato made her debut with Washington National Opera as Dorabella in Mozart's Così fan tutte, her debut with De Nederlandse Opera as Sesto in Handel's Giulio Cesare, her debut with Opéra National de Paris as Rosina in Rossini's Il barbiere di Siviglia, her debut with Bavarian State Opera as Cherubino in Mozart's Le nozze di Figaro under the baton of Zubin Mehta, and returned to Santa Fe Opera to perform the role of Annio in Mozart's La clemenza di Tito. She made several concert appearances including performances of Vivaldi's Gloria with Riccardo Muti and the La Scala Orchestra and Mendelssohn's A Midsummer Night's Dream with Ensemble Orchestral de Paris. In 2002, DiDonato was given the Richard Tucker Award.^[5]

In the 2002/2003 season, DiDonato made her debut with the New York City Opera as Sister Helen in Jake Heggie's Dead Man Walking, her debut with Théâtre du Châtelet in the title role of Rossini's La cenerentola, her debut at Covent Garden as Zlatohrbitek the fox in Janáček's The Cunning Little Vixen under the baton of Sir John Eliot Gardiner, and her debut with the New National Theatre Tokyo as Rosina in Rossini's Il barbiere di Siviglia. She performed the title role in Rossini's Adina at the Rossini Opera Festival in Pesaro and the role of Cherubino in Mozart's Le nozze di Figaro with Opéra Bastille. In concert, DiDonato performed Mozart's Requiem with the Seattle Symphony, Berlioz's Les nuits d'été with the Ensemble Orchestral de Paris, and made her Carnegie Hall debut in a production of Bach's Mass in B Minor with the Orchestra of St. Luke's under the baton of Peter Schreier. She toured Europe with Marc Minkowski and Les Musiciens du Louvre in performances of Les nuits d'été.^[8] In 2003 DiDonato was the recipient of New York City Opera's Richard Gold Debut Award

In the 2003/2004 season, DiDonato made her debut with the San Francisco Opera as Rosina in Rossini's Il barbiere di Siviglia and reprised the role with Houston Grand Opera. She performed Idamante in Mozart's Idomeneo with De Nederlandse Opera and at the Aix-en-Provence Festival. She sang the role of Ascanio in a concert performance of Berlioz's Benvenuto Cellini with the Orchestre National de France and appeared in solo recitals at the Lincoln Center, the Kennedy Center, Kansas City's Folly Theater, and Wigmore Hall among others. She sang at the Hollywood Bowl in a production of Beethoven's Symphony No. 9 with the Los Angeles Philharmonic.^[8]

In the 2004/2005 season, DiDonato made her debut with the Grand Théâtre de Genève as Elisabetta in Donizetti's Maria Stuarda. She returned to La Scala in the role of Angelina in Rossini's La Cenerentola and once again played Rosina in a new production of Rossini's Il barbiere di Siviglia by Luca Ronconi at the Pesaro Festival and the Teatro Comunale di Bologna.^[7]

In the 2005/2006 season, DiDonato made her Metropolitan Opera debut as Cherubino in Le nozze di Figaro and played Stéphano in Gounod's Roméo et Juliette at the Met. She returned to the Royal Opera House as Rosina in Il barbiere di Siviglia, sang her first Sesto in Mozart's La clemenza di Tito with Grand Théâtre de Genève, and sang the role of Dejanira in Handel's Hercules at the Brooklyn Academy of Music in New York and at the Barbican Centre in London with William Christie (musician). In addition, DiDonato appeared in several concerts with the New York Philharmonic and gave a recital at Wigmore Hall in London. She closed the Santa Fe Opera's 50th anniversary season in the title role of Massenet's Cendrillon.^[7] In 2006, DiDonato was given the Royal Philharmonic Society Singer Award.

In the 2006/2007 season, DiDonato debuted at the Teatro Real as the Composer in Richard Strauss' Ariadne auf Naxos, returned to the Opéra National de Paris as Idamante in Mozart's Idomeneo, and returned to Houston Grand Opera as Angelina in La Cenerentola. She sang Rosina in Il barbiere di Siviglia at the Metropolitan Opera and sang her first Octavian in Richard Strauss' Der Rosenkavalier with the San Francisco Opera. She toured the U.S. and Europe on an extensive recital tour with accompianist Julius Drake.^[9] DiDonato won the Metropolitan Opera's Beverly Sills Award in 2007.^[10]

In the 2007/2008 season, DiDonato debuted at the Liceu as Angelina in La Cenerentola and at the Lyric Opera of Chicago as Rosina in Il barbiere di Siviglia. She sang the title role in Handel's Alcina with Alan Curtis and Il Complesso Barocco and the title role in Handel's Ariodante at the Grand Théâtre de Genève. She sang Roméo in Bellini's I Capuleti e i Montecchi with Opéra Bastille and returned to Madrid's Teatro Real as Idamante in Idomeneo in July 2008. DiDonato also gave recitals at La Scala, Lincoln Center, and the Brooklyn Academy of Music, and performed a special concert of Handel arias which was recorded in Brussels.^[9][11]

In the 2008/2009 season, DiDonato returned to Covent Garden as Donna Elvira in Mozart's Don Giovanni and as Rosina in Il barbiere di Siviglia. In a performance of that opera on July 7, DiDonato slipped onstage and broke her right fibula; she finished the first act hobbling and the rest of the performance on crutches. She then performed the five remaining scheduled performances from a wheelchair.^[12] She will be performing the roles of Beatrice in Berlioz's Béatrice et Bénédict with Houston Grand Opera, Idamante in Mozart's Idomeneo with Opéra National de Paris, and Rosina in Il barbiere di Siviglia in her debut with Vienna State Opera. DiDonato also appeared in concerts with the New York Philharmonic, Kansas City Symphony, and the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra, the latter of which under the baton of James Levine. She also toured Europe and the United States with Les Talens Lyriques giving concerts of Handel arias; including performances at Wigmore Hall and the Rossini Opera Festival.^[13]

In October 2010, DiDonato won the Klassik Echo Award as Singer of the Year.^[14]

DiDonato sang the role of Isolier in Rossini's Le comte Ory with the Metropolitan Opera in April 2011.

At the 54th Grammy Awards on February 12th, 2012, the Grammy for Best Classical Vocal Solo was awarded to DiDonato for her solo recording Diva Divo.^[15]

In 2012, DiDonato was voted into Gramophone Magazine's Hall of Fame.^[16]

In April 2012, DiDonato sang the role of Mary Stuart in Donizetti's Maria Stuarda with the Houston Grand Opera.^[17]

Personal life[link]

DiDonato is married to Italian conductor Leonardo Vordoni with whom she lives in Kansas City, Missouri. She was married once previously and continues to use her first husband's surname professionally.^[3]

Opera roles[link]

@ Indicates a world premiere

Discography[link]

Complete opera recordings[link]

• Alcina in Handel's Alcina with conductor Alan Curtis and Il Complesso Barocco, released 2009, Archiv label.
• Angelina (Cenerentola) in Rossini's La Cenerentola with conductor Alberto Zedda and SWR Orchestra Kaiserslautern, released 2005, Naxos label.
• Ariodante in Handel's Ariodante with conductor Alan Curtis and Il Complesso Barocco, released 2011, Virgin Classics label.
• Ascanio in Berlioz's Benvenuto Cellini with conductor John Nelson and Orchestre National de France, released 2005, Virgin Classics label.
• Elmira in Handel's Floridante with conductor Alan Curtis and Il Complesso Barocco, released 2007, Archiv Produktion label.
• Grace Kelly in Michael Daugherty's Jackie O with conductor Christopher Larkin and Houston Grand Opera Orchestra, released 1997, Argo label.
• Maslova in Tod Machover's Resurrection with conductor Patrick Summers and Houston Grand Opera Orchestra, released 1999, Albany Records.
• Meg March in Mark Adamo's Little Women with conductor Katherine Ciesinski and Houston Grand Opera Orchestra, released 2001, Ondine label.
• Radamisto in Handel's Radamisto with conductor Alan Curtis and Il Complesso Barocco, released 2005, Virgin Classics label.

Concert recordings[link]

• Antonio Vivaldi: The Complete Sacred Music with conductor Robert King and The King's Consort, released 2005, Hyperion label.
• Mendelssohn: A Midsummer Nights Dream with conductor John Nelson and the Ensemble Orchestral de Paris, released 2003, EMI Classics label.
• Mozart: The Last Concerto 1791 with conductor Frans Brüggen and the Orchestra of the Eighteenth Century, released 2002, Glossa label.

Solo recordings[link]

• Diva, Divo, with the Orchestre et Choeur de l’Opéra National de Lyon under Kazushi Ono, released 2011
• Rossini: Colbran, the Muse, conductor Edoardo Muller and Orchestra dell'Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia, released 2009, Virgin Classics label.
• Furore – Mad Scenes from Operas, conductor Christophe Rousset and Les Talens Lyriques, released 2008, Virgin Classics label.
• Amor e gelosia: Handel Operatic Duets with Patrizia Ciofi, conductor Alan Curtis and Il Complesso Barocco, released 2004, Virgin Classics label.
• The Deepest Desire, accompanied by David Zobel, released 2006, Eloquentia label.
• Joyce DiDonato: Songs by Fauré, Hahn and Head · Arias by Rossini and Handel, live recording at Wigmore Hall, accompanied by Julius Drake, released 2006, Wigmore Hall Live label.
• ¡Pasión!, accompanied by Julius Drake, released 2007, Eloquentia label.

Other recordings[link]

• William Barnewitz: Long Road Home, DiDonato appears as a guest artist, released 2007, Avie label.
• Plácido Domingo's Operalia '98: A Tribute to Passion and Soul, released 1998, Montblanc label.

Film and television appearances[link]

• Meg March in Mark Adamo's Little Women with conductor Katherine Ciesinski and Houston Grand Opera Orchestra, aired on PBS' Great Performances in 2001.
• Rosina in Rossini's The Barber of Seville with conductor Bruno Campanella and Opéra National de Paris, aired on television in 2002, released on DVD 2002.
• "Gala Jean-Philippe Rameau" – Concert du 20ème anniversaire des Musiciens du Louvre, aired on television in 2003.
• Dejanira in Handel's Hercules with conductor William Christie, Les Arts Florissants, and Aix-en-Provence Festival, aired on television in 2005, released on DVD 2005.^[18]
• Rosina in Rossini's The Barber of Seville with conductor Antonio Pappano at the Royal Opera House, released on DVD in 2010
• Angelina in Rossini's La Cenerentola with conductor Patrick Summers at the Gran Teatre del Liceu, released on DVD in 2010

References[link]

External links[link]

• Joyce DiDonato Official Website
• An interview with Joyce DiDonato, June 2012
• An interview with Joyce DiDonato, September 2008
• Yankee Diva Joyce DiDonato's blog
• Joyce DiDonato's Management at IMG Artists
• Joyce DiDonato – Virgin Classics Official Website
• Joyce DiDonato – EMI Classics UK for Concert Dates and Releases in the UK
• Joyce DiDonato – EMI Classics Germany

Simone Kermes is a German coloratura soprano, especially known for her virtuoso voice, suited to the opera seria genre, of the Baroque and early Classical repertoires.

Biography[link]

Born in Leipzig, Kermes studied with Helga Forner at the Felix Mendelssohn College of Music and Theatre in her home city. She also attended master classes of Elisabeth Schwarzkopf and Dietrich Fischer Dieskau. In 1993 she won first prize in the Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy Competition in Berlin, and in 1996 she was awarded second prize in the International Johann Sebastian Bach Competition in Leipzig.

Kermes has performed at many important theatres, festivals and concert halls internationally, including the Brooklyn Academy of Music in New York, the Théâtre des Champs-Élysées in Paris, the Staatsoper Stuttgart, the Bonn Opera House, the Festspielhaus Baden-Baden, the Schwetzingen Festival, the Schleswig-Holstein Musik Festival, the Rheingau Musik Festival, Festa de musica Lisbona, the Ruhr Triennale arts festival, Triennale di Colonia, Dresda MDR, Figures sacrées Paris, Autumn of Praga, Bach festival Leipzig , and Bonn e Resonanzen Vienna. She has also performed with many notable orchestras, including Gewandhaus Lipsia, Symphonic Orchestra of Prague, Venice Baroque Orchestra, Classical Orchestra of Madrid, Staatskapelle of Dresden, Orchestra of the Comunale of Bologna, Orchestra regionale Toscana, Complesso Barocco, Orchestra of the Fiandre.

On the opera stage she has performed many roles, including Konstanze in Die Entführung aus dem Serail, Rosalinde in Die Fledermaus, Fiordiligi in Così fan tutte, Donna Anna in Don Giovanni, and the title role in Euridice. She has also portrayed numerous Händel heroines, including Adelaide in Lotario, Asteria in Tamerlano, Laodice in Mitridate Eupatore, Merab in Saul, and the title roles in Alcina, Deidamia, and Rodelinda.

External links[link]

• Official website

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Andreas Scholl taking a bow in 2010

Andreas Scholl (born 10 November 1967) is a German countertenor, a male classical singer in the alto vocal range. He is noted as a specialist in Baroque music.

Biography[link]

Childhood[link]

Scholl was born on 10 November 1967 in Eltville, Germany, and grew up in neighboring Kiedrich.^[1] All of his family members were singers. He was enrolled at the age of seven into the Kiedricher Chorbuben (Kiedrich Choir-Boys) — which was first documented in 1333 as "a schola of men assisting the priests on all Sundays, singing the Gregorian chant." At age 13, Andreas Scholl sang the second boy (his sister Elisabeth sang the first boy) in Mozart's Die Zauberflöte at the Hessisches Staatstheater Wiesbaden. That same year, he was one of 20,000 choristers from all over the world gathered in Rome for a festival where Scholl was chosen to sing solo at Mass on 4 January 1981 and met Pope John Paul II. Along with his fellow choristers, Andreas Scholl was an extra in the film The Name of the Rose, playing a young monk standing alongside Sean Connery in scenes shot at Eberbach Abbey, near Kiedrich.

Musical education[link]

Scholl was 17 when the extent of his ability was recognized by the Chorbuben's voice coach from the Darmstadt Music Academy. He then sang for the tenor/countertenor Herbert Klein, who advised him that there were only two places he should study: either in London or at the early music conservatoire in Basel, the Schola Cantorum Basiliensis. Since an uncle had introduced Scholl to the voices of Paul Esswood and James Bowman, the leading European countertenors of the day, Scholl chose Bowman as a role model. Scholl sent a demo tape to René Jacobs to evaluate his talent. This resulted in Jacobs inviting Scholl to visit the Schola Cantorum Basiliensis. However, Scholl had no first degree. Although the Schola Cantorum Basiliensis only offered post-graduate courses, Scholl was subsequently offered admission on the strength and quality of his voice after singing a Schubert song for the admissions board — which included René Jacobs.

At the Schola, Andreas Scholl's teacher was Richard Levitt, followed by Jacobs in his second year.^[2] Violinist Chiara Banchini and soprano Emma Kirkby were major influences, as Scholl began to specialise in the music of the Baroque. Scholl additionally studied with soprano Evelyn Tubb and lutenist Anthony Rooley. In addition to the Diploma of Ancient Music, for which his external examiner was James Bowman, Andreas Scholl garnered prizes from the Council of Europe and the Foundation Claude Nicolas Ledoux, and awards from Switzerland's Association Migros and Ernst Göhner Foundation.

Andreas Scholl has been teaching interpretation in the Schola Cantorum Basiliensis, succeeding his own teacher, Richard Levitt, and is in much demand for master classes.

Career[link]

Early performances[link]

In 1988 Scholl performed Bach's Christmas Oratorio in Rüdesheim. In 1991 he appeared in Bach's St John Passion, conducted by Philippe Herreweghe in Antwerp.^[2] In 1993, Scholl stood in for René Jacobs at Jacobs' request at the Théâtre Grévin in Paris, causing a sensation. This performance of Bach’s Johannespassion was broadcast on Good Friday to a radio audience which included William Christie. Shortly thereafter, Christie and Scholl met on a train. The 1994 recording of Handel's Messiah with Les Arts Florissants resulted directly from this meeting.

Scholl performed Bach's Mass in B minor in 1995, conducted by Jacobs, and sang Purcell on a tour in France.^[2] In 1998 Scholl and his sister performed in Bach's St Matthew Passion, with Max Ciolek as the Evangelist and Max van Egmond as the Vox Christi, in St. Martin, Idstein.^[3] Scholl performed the title role of Solomon at The Proms. He gave recitals in Wigmore Hall and at the Brighton Festival.^[2]

Opera[link]

Scholl's major opera roles have been written for the 18th century alto castrato Senesino. They include his operatic debut at the Glyndebourne in 1998, Bertarido in Handel's Rodelinda, repeated in 1999 and 2002.^[4] Rodelinda was a huge success and he 'stopped the show' (Sunday Times). According to James Bowman, who describes himself as an unqualified admirer, 'people went into a kind of trance' when he sang Dove Sei. The Financial Times said of his Vivi tiranno: '... such intelligent virtuosity ... time stands still and you feel he is speaking to you.' In February 2002, Le Monde called him 'Le Roi Scholl' after his reprise of the role of Bertarido in the Paris production of the Glyndebourne Rodelinda.

Scholl performed this role also at the Metropolitan Opera in 2006, opposite Renée Fleming in the title role and Kobie van Rensburg, conducted by Patrick Summers, repeated in 2011.^[5] He performed the title role in Handel's Giulio Cesare in a Royal Danish Opera production in 2002 and 2005), reprised in Paris (2007) and Lausanne (2008).^[4] In 2008 he performed the role of Arsace in Handel's Partenope for the Royal Danish Opera. In 2010 he sang Giulio Cesare, this time opposite Cecilia Bartoli as Cleopatra, with Les Arts Florissants conducted by William Christie.^[4]

Concert[link]

In 1999, Scholl appeared with De Nederlandse Bachvereniging, conducted by Jos van Veldhoven in works of Bach, including his Missa in G (BWV 236). He performed in the Avery Fisher Hall Bach's Christmas Oratorio, conducted by Ton Koopman. In 2000 he sang in Japan several concerts of Bach's Mass in B minor, conducted by Masaaki Suzuki. In 2001, Scholl sang in Handel's Saul in Brussels and performed the title role in Handel's Solomon, conducted by Paul McCreesh. He sang Bach's St John Passion in the Thomaskirche, Leipzig.^[4] At the Bachfest Leipzig (de) 2003, he sang in the Mass in B minor, which traditionally closes the festival, with Letizia Scherrer, Mark Padmore and Sebastian Noack, choir and orchestra of the Collegium Vocale Gent, conducted by Philippe Herreweghe.^[6] In 2006 he sang on a tour of Europa Bach's solo cantatas Vergnügte Ruh, beliebte Seelenlust, BWV 170, and Geist und Seele wird verwirret, BWV 35, with the orchestra Accademia Bizantina. In 2007 he sang Saul again, at Eberbach Abbey with Trine Wilsberg Lund (Merab), Hannah Morrison (Michal), Andreas Karasiak (Jonathan) and the Schiersteiner Kantorei, conducted by Martin Lutz. In the Berliner Philharmonie he sang Handels Messiah with soloists of the Tölzer Knabenchor, the choir of Les Arts Florissants and the Berliner Philharmonic, conducted by Christie.^[4]

Andreas Scholl and members of the Baroque orchestra Accademia Bizantina in a concert of the Rheingau Musik Festival at the church of Hallgarten, 16 July 2011

In 2008 Andres Scholl made his debut with the New York Philharmonic, singing Handel's Messiah in Avery Fisher Hall, conducted by Ton Koopman.^[7] In 2011 Scholl made his debut at the Rheingau Musik Festival in three events, an interview, a trip to three churches with different concert programs, and an opera recital with his sister Elisabeth at Eberbach Abbey. In the Christophoruskirche of Wiesbaden-Schierstein he appeared with harpsichordist Tamar Halperin, in Hallgarten with members of the Accademia Bizantina, in the romanesque Basilika St. Aegidius of Mittelheim with the vocal trio White Raven. The opera recital with the chamber orchestra Accademia Bizantina contained works of Handel and Purcell, such as Handel's Rodelinda, Purcell's King Arthur, closing with the final love duet "Caro! Bella!" from Giulio Cesare in Egitto.^[8] In 2011 he performed the alto part of Handel's Messiah in St. Martin, Idstein, with Katia Plaschka, Ulrich Cordes and Markus Flaig.^[9] A review describes his perfect timing in the recitatives, his pronounced declamation, technically perfect interpretation and phrasing of the arias, and his devotion to Handel's music and Jennens's text.^[10] The Air "He was despised" was regarded as the center of the concert.^[9]

Collaborations[link]

Andreas Scholl has worked with the majority of contemporary Baroque specialists, including Chiara Banchini, William Christie, Christophe Coin, Michel Corboz, Paul Dyer, John Eliot Gardiner, Reinhard Goebel, Philippe Herreweghe, Christopher Hogwood, René Jacobs, Konrad Junghänel, Robert King, Paul McCreesh, Nicholas McGegan, Roger Norrington, Christophe Rousset, Jos van Veldhoven, Dominique Veillard and Roland Wilson. He took part in the project of Ton Koopman and the Amsterdam Baroque Orchestra & Choir to record the complete vocal works of Bach. His regular solo partners include cemballist Markus Märkl and the virtuoso lutenist Edin Karamazov. Ensembles with whom he performs include the De Nederlandse Bachvereniging, Cantus Cölln, the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment, Musica Antiqua Köln, the Akademie für Alte Musik Berlin, the Freiburger Barockorchester, the Australian Brandenburg Orchestra and Accademia Bizantina.

The composer Marco Rosano has created a new Stabat Mater for Andreas Scholl; he sang the first complete performance of this work on 22 February 2008 at the City Recital Hall, Angel Place, Sydney, accompanied by the Australian Brandenburg Orchestra under Paul Dyer.

Popular music[link]

Scholl has always written songs as well as music for ballet and theatre and has his own professional sound studio in Basel, Switzerland. His White as Lilies, based on ideas of John Dowland, is on the 1995 CD The Countertenors (with Dominique Visse and Pascal Bertin). It was a hit in Korea when used in a TV commercial and was later released there in an orchestrated version. In December 2003, he gave his first public performance in popular music, an eclectic programme of electronic and orchestral works which included his own compositions. Alongside Andreas Scholl was fellow Baroque countertenor, Roland Kunz, who specialises in setting Elizabethan English poems to his own electronic music. The two countertenors duetted in Scholl's and Kunz's songs, backed by Kunz's band die Unerlösten and the Rundfunk-Sinfonieorchester Saarbrücken under Rick Stengårds.

Recordings[link]

The bulk of Scholl's recording career has been with Harmonia Mundi and Decca. By 1998 his CDs dominated Harmonia Mundi's hit list at numbers one, three, four, five and ten, and they are still among Harmonia Mundi's best sellers. His discography amounts to more than sixty CDs, all but two being music of the European Baroque or Renaissance. Recordings in which he has collaborated, including all but one of his solo recordings, have won awards. His personal accolades include the Diapason d'Or, multiple Gramophone Awards, 10 de Repertoire, ffff Telerama and Choc du Mond de la Musique, the ECHO award and Prix de l'Union de la Presse Musicale Belge. In an extremely rare departure from its normally austere approach, Fanfare magazine described his recording of Dowland's A Musicall Banquet as 'perfect'. The recording of Bach's St John Passion conducted by Philippe Herreweghe on which Andreas Scholl sings was nominated for a Cannes Classical Award in 2003. He was Germany's Kultur Radio Artist of the Year in 1998. He has revealed, to German audiences in particular, some little-known masterworks of German Baroque composers and has thereby made a significant contribution to the modern rediscovery of the Baroque repertoire. His 2001 album of folk songs, Wayfaring Stranger, was a personal project, well-received by the CD-buying public but not universally acclaimed by his fellow musicians, some of whom regarded it as an inappropriate departure.

References[link]

External links[link]

• Literature by and about Andreas Scholl in the German National Library catalogue
• Andreas Scholl Website (German)
• The Andreas Scholl Society not-for-profit independent site with future concerts, past performances, extended biography, full discography, list of all recorded tracks indexed by composer, photo archive, early music links, index of world countertenors, audio samples, message board
• Andreas Scholl Harrison Parrott artist management
• Andreas Scholl Decca 2011
• Andreas Scholl at Allmusic
• Andreas Scholl laphil.com 2011
• Scholl's MySpace page with audio clips from his own studio.
• Andreas Scholl sings from Mozart's Mitridate
• Germany special: The Rhine Valley Interview with Andreas Scholl by Kieran Falconer, The Independent, 9 April 2006
• Andreas Scholl' Dan Shorer, "on-line meetings at U-Sophia, where minds meet on-line"
• Andreas Scholl Oper Frankfurt

George Frideric Handel, born in the same year as Johann Sebastian Bach and Domenico Scarlatti. By Thomas Hudson (1749)

George Frideric Handel Signature

George Frideric Handel (German: Georg Friedrich Händel; pronounced [ˈhɛndəl]) (23 February 1685 – 14 April 1759) was a German-British Baroque composer, famous for his operas, oratorios, anthems and organ concertos. Handel was born in 1685, in a family indifferent to music. He received critical musical training in Halle, Hamburg and Italy before settling in London (1712) and becoming a naturalised British subject in 1727.^[1] By then he was strongly influenced by the great composers of the Italian Baroque and the middle-German polyphonic choral tradition.

Within fifteen years, Handel, a dramatic genius, started three commercial opera companies to supply the English nobility with Italian opera, but the public came to hear the vocal bravura of the soloists rather than the music. In 1737 he had a physical breakdown, changed direction creatively and addressed the middle class. As Alexander's Feast (1736) was well received, Handel made a transition to English choral works. After his success with Messiah (1742) he never performed an Italian opera again. Handel was only partly successful with his performances of English Oratorio on mythical and biblical themes, but when he arranged a performance of Messiah to benefit the Foundling Hospital (1750) the critique ended. The pathos of Handel's oratorios is an ethical one. They are hallowed not by liturgical dignity but by the moral ideals of humanity.^[2] Almost blind, and having lived in England for almost fifty years, he died a respected and rich man.

Handel is regarded as one of the greatest composers of all time, with works such as Water Music, Music for the Royal Fireworks and Messiah remaining popular. Handel composed more than forty operas in over thirty years, and since the late 1960s, with the revival of baroque music and original instrumentation, interest in Handel's operas has grown. His operas contain remarkable human characterisation—especially for a composer not known for his love affairs.

Early years[link]

Handel's baptismal registration (Marienbibliothek in Halle)

Handel was born in 1685 in Halle, Duchy of Magdeburg, to Georg Händel and Dorothea Taust.^[3] His father, 63 when his son was born, was an eminent barber-surgeon who served to the court of Saxe-Weissenfels and the Margraviate of Brandenburg.^[4] According to Handel's first biographer, John Mainwaring, he "had discovered such a strong propensity to Music, that his father who always intended him for the study of the Civil Law, had reason to be alarmed. He strictly forbade him to meddle with any musical instrument but Handel found means to get a little clavichord privately convey'd to a room at the top of the house. To this room he constantly stole when the family was asleep".^[5] At an early age Handel became a skillful performer on the harpsichord and pipe organ.^[6]

Händel-Haus (2009) – birthplace of George Frideric Handel

Entrance of Teatro del Cocomero in Florence

Handel and his father travelled to Weissenfels to visit either Handel's half-brother, Carl, or nephew, Georg Christian,^[7] who was serving as valet to Duke Johann Adolf I.^[8] Handel and the duke convinced his father to allow him to take lessons in musical composition and keyboard technique from Friedrich Wilhelm Zachow, the organist of the Lutheran Marienkirche. He learned about harmony and contemporary styles, analysed sheet music scores, learned to work fugue subjects, and to copy music. In 1698 Handel played for Frederick I of Prussia and met Giovanni Battista Bononcini in Berlin.

From Halle to Italy[link]

The Hamburg Opera am Gänsemarkt in 1726

In 1702, following his father's wishes, Handel started studying law under Christian Thomasius at the University of Halle;^[9] and also earned an appointment for one year as the organist in the former cathedral, by then an evangelical reformed church. Handel seems to have been unsatisfied and in 1703, he accepted a position as violinist and harpsichordist in the orchestra of the Hamburg Oper am Gänsemarkt.^[10] There he met the composers Johann Mattheson, Christoph Graupner and Reinhard Keiser. His first two operas, Almira and Nero, were produced in 1705.^[11] He produced two other operas, Daphne and Florindo, in 1708. It is unclear whether Handel directed these performances.

According to Mainwaring, in 1706 Handel travelled to Italy at the invitation of Ferdinando de' Medici, but Mainwaring must have been confused. It was Gian Gastone de' Medici, whom Handel had met in 1703–1704 in Hamburg.^[12] Ferdinando tried to make Florence Italy's musical capital, attracting the leading talents of his day. He had a keen interest in opera. In Italy Handel met librettist Antonio Salvi, with whom he later collaborated. Handel left for Rome and, since opera was (temporarily) banned in the Papal States, composed sacred music for the Roman clergy. His famous Dixit Dominus (1707) is from this era. He also composed cantatas in pastoral style for musical gatherings in the palaces of cardinals Pietro Ottoboni, Benedetto Pamphili and Carlo Colonna. Two oratorios, La Resurrezione and Il Trionfo del Tempo, were produced in a private setting for Ruspoli and Ottoboni in 1709 and 1710, respectively. Rodrigo, his first all-Italian opera, was produced in the Cocomero theatre in Florence in 1707.^[13] Agrippina was first produced in 1709 at Teatro San Giovanni Grisostomo, the prettiest theatre at Venice, owned by the Grimanis. The opera, with a libretto by cardinal Vincenzo Grimani, and according to Mainwaring it ran for 27 nights successively. The audience, thunderstruck with the grandeur and sublimity of his style,^[14] applauded for Il caro Sassone.

Move to London[link]

George Frideric Handel (left) and King George I on the River Thames, 17 July 1717, by Edouard Jean Conrad Hamman (1819–88).

In 1710, Handel became Kapellmeister to German prince George, Elector of Hanover, who in 1714 would become King George I of Great Britain.^[15] He visited Anna Maria Luisa de' Medici and her husband in Düsseldorf on his way to London in 1710. With his opera Rinaldo, based on La Gerusalemme Liberata by the Italian poet Torquato Tasso, Handel enjoyed great success, although it was composed quickly, with many borrowings from his older Italian works.^[16] This work contains one of Handel's favourite arias, Cara sposa, amante cara, and the famous Lascia ch'io pianga.

In 1712, Handel decided to settle permanently in England. He received a yearly income of £200 from Queen Anne after composing for her the Utrecht Te Deum and Jubilate, first performed in 1713.^[17][18]

One of his most important patrons was the young and wealthy Richard Boyle, 3rd Earl of Burlington.^[19] For him Handel wrote Amadigi di Gaula, a magical opera, about a damsel in distress, based on the tragedy by Antoine Houdar de la Motte.

The conception of an opera as a coherent structure was slow to capture Handel's imagination^[20] and he renounced it for five years. In July 1717 Handel's Water Music was performed more than three times on the Thames for the King and his guests. It is said the compositions spurred reconciliation between the King and Handel.^[21]

Cannons (1717–18)[link]

The Chandos portrait. The 1st Duke of Chandos was an important patron for Handel.

In 1717 Handel became house composer at Cannons in Middlesex, where he laid the cornerstone for his future choral compositions in the twelve Chandos Anthems.^[22] Romain Rolland stated that these anthems were as important for his oratorios as the cantatas were for his operas.^[23] Another work he wrote for the Duke of Chandos, the owner of Cannons, was Acis and Galatea: during Handel's lifetime it was his most performed work. Winton Dean wrote, "the music catches breath and disturbs the memory".^[24]

In 1719 the Duke of Chandos became one of the main subscribers to Handel's new opera company, the Royal Academy of Music, but his patronage of music declined after he lost money in the South Sea bubble, which burst in 1720 in one of history's greatest financial cataclysms. Handel himself invested in South Sea stock in 1716, when prices were low^[25] and sold before 1720.^[26]

Royal Academy of Music (1719–34)[link]

Handel House at 25 Brook Street, Mayfair, London

In May 1719 Lord Chamberlain Thomas Holles, the Duke of Newcastle ordered Handel to look for new singers.^[27] Handel travelled to Dresden to attend the newly built opera. He saw Teofane by Antonio Lotti, and engaged the cast for the Royal Academy of Music, founded by a group of aristocrats to assure themselves a constant supply of baroque opera or opera seria. Handel may have invited John Smith, his fellow student in Halle, and his son Johann Christoph Schmidt, to become his secretary and amanuensis.^[28] By 1723 he had moved into a Georgian house at 25 Brook Street, which he rented for the rest of his life.^[29] This house, where he rehearsed, copied music and sold tickets, is now the Handel House Museum.^[30] During twelve months between 1724 and 1725, Handel wrote three outstanding and successful operas, Giulio Cesare, Tamerlano and Rodelinda. Handel's operas are filled with da capo arias, such as Svegliatevi nel core. After composing Silete venti, he concentrated on opera and stopped writing cantatas. Scipio, from which the regimental slow march of the British Grenadier Guards is derived,^[31] was performed as a stopgap, waiting for the arrival of Faustina Bordoni.

In 1727 Handel was commissioned to write four anthems for the coronation ceremony of King George II. One of these, Zadok the Priest, has been played at every British coronation ceremony since.^[32] In 1728 John Gay's The Beggar's Opera premiered at Lincoln's Inn Fields Theatre and ran for 62 consecutive performances, the longest run in theatre history up to that time.^{[citation needed]} After nine years Handel's contract was ended but he soon started a new company.

The Queen's Theatre at the Haymarket (now Her Majesty's Theatre), established in 1705 by architect and playwright John Vanbrugh, quickly became an opera house.^[33] Between 1711 and 1739, more than 25 of Handel's operas premièred there.^[34] In 1729 Handel became joint manager of the Theatre with John James Heidegger.

A musical portrait of Frederick, Prince of Wales and his sisters by Philip Mercier, dated 1733, using Kew Palace as its plein-air backdrop

The Queen's Theatre in the Haymarket in London by William Capon

Handel travelled to Italy to engage seven new singers. He composed seven more operas, but the public came to hear the singers rather than the music.^[35] After two commercially successful English oratorios Esther and Deborah, he was able to invest again in the South Sea Company. Handel reworked his Acis and Galatea which then became his most successful work ever. Handel failed to compete with the Opera of the Nobility, who engaged musicians such as Johann Adolf Hasse, Nicolo Porpora and the famous castrato Farinelli. The strong support by Frederick, Prince of Wales caused conflicts in the royal family. In March 1734 Handel directed a wedding anthem This is the day which the Lord hath made, and a serenata Parnasso in Festa for Anne of Hanover.^[36]

Opera at Covent Garden (1734–41)[link]

In 1733 the Earl of Essex received a letter with the following sentence: "Handel became so arbitrary a prince, that the Town murmurs". The board of chief investors expected Handel to retire when his contract ended, but Handel immediately looked for another theatre. In cooperation with John Rich he started his third company at Covent Garden Theatre. Rich was renowned for his spectacular productions. He suggested Handel use his small chorus and introduce the dancing of Marie Sallé, for whom Handel composed Terpsichore. In 1735 he introduced organ concertos between the acts. For the first time Handel allowed Gioacchino Conti, who had no time to learn his part, to substitute arias.^[37] Financially, Ariodante was a failure, although he introduced ballet suites at the end of each act.^[38] Alcina, his last opera with a magic content, and Alexander's Feast or the Power of Music based on John Dryden's Alexander's Feast starred Anna Maria Strada del Pò and John Beard.

In April 1737, at age 52, Handel apparently suffered a stroke which disabled the use of four fingers on his right hand, preventing him from performing.^[39] In summer the disorder seemed at times to affect his understanding. Nobody expected that Handel would ever be able to perform again. But whether the affliction was rheumatism, a stroke or a nervous breakdown, he recovered remarkably quickly .^[40] To aid his recovery, Handel had travelled to Aachen, a spa in Germany. During six weeks he took long hot baths, and ended up playing the organ for a surprised audience.^[41]

Deidamia, his last and only baroque opera without an accompagnato, was performed three times in 1741. Handel gave up the opera business, while he enjoyed more success with his English oratorios.^{[citation needed]}

Oratorio[link]

Handel by Philip Mercier

Il Trionfo del Tempo e del Disinganno, an allegory, Handel's first oratorio^[42] was composed in Italy in 1707, followed by La Resurrezione in 1708 which uses material from the Bible. The circumstances of Esther and its first performance, possibly in 1718, are obscure.^[43] Another 12 years had passed when an act of piracy caused him to take up Esther once again.^[44] Three earlier performances aroused such interest that they naturally prompted the idea of introducing it to a larger public. Next came Deborah, strongly coloured by the Anthems^[45] and Athaliah, his first English Oratorio.^[46] In these three oratorios Handel laid foundation for the traditional use of the chorus which marks his later oratorios.^[47] Handel became sure of himself, broader in his presentation, and more diverse in his composition.^[48]

It is evident how much he learnt from Arcangelo Corelli about writing for instruments, and from Alessandro Scarlatti about writing for the solo voice; but there is no single composer who taught him how to write for chorus.^[49] Handel tended more and more to replace Italian soloists by English ones. The most significant reason for this change was the dwindling financial returns from his operas.^[50] Thus a tradition was created for oratorios which was to govern their future performance. The performances were given without costumes and action; the performers appeared in a black suit.^[51]

Caricature of Handel by Joseph Goupy (1754)

In 1736 Handel produced Alexander's Feast. John Beard appeared for the first time as one of Handel's principal singers and became Handel's permanent tenor soloist for the rest of Handel's life.^[52] The piece was a great success and it encouraged Handel to make the transition from writing Italian operas to English choral works. In Saul, Handel was collaborating with Charles Jennens and experimenting with three trombones, a carillon and extra-large military kettledrums (from the Tower of London), to be sure "...it will be most excessive noisy".^[53] Saul and Israel in Egypt both from 1739 head the list of great, mature oratorios, in which the da capo and dal segno aria became the exception and not the rule.^[54] Israel in Egypt consists of little else but choruses, borrowing from the Funeral Anthem for Queen Caroline. In his next works Handel changed his course. In these works he laid greater stress on the effects of orchestra and soloists; the chorus retired into the background.^[55] L'Allegro, il Penseroso ed il Moderato has a rather diverting character; the work is light and fresh.

During the summer of 1741, the 3rd Duke of Devonshire invited Handel to Dublin to give concerts for the benefit of local hospitals.^[56] His Messiah was first performed at the New Music Hall in Fishamble Street, on 13 April 1742, with 26 boys and five men from the combined choirs of St Patrick's and Christ Church cathedrals participating.^[57] Handel secured a balance between soloists and chorus which he never surpassed.

The use of English soloists reached its height at the first performance of Samson. The work is highly theatrical. The role of the chorus became increasingly import in his later oratorios. Jephtha was first performed on 26 February 1752; even though it was his last oratorio, it was no less a masterpiece than his earlier works.^[58]

Later years[link]

George Frideric Handel in 1733, by Balthasar Denner (1685–1749)

In 1749 Handel composed Music for the Royal Fireworks; 12,000 people attended the first performance.^[59] In 1750 he arranged a performance of Messiah to benefit the Foundling Hospital. The performance was considered a great success and was followed by annual concerts that continued throughout his life. In recognition of his patronage, Handel was made a governor of the Hospital the day after his initial concert. He bequeathed a copy of Messiah to the institution upon his death.^[60] His involvement with the Foundling Hospital is today commemorated with a permanent exhibition in London's Foundling Museum, which also holds the Gerald Coke Handel Collection. In addition to the Foundling Hospital, Handel also gave to a charity that assisted impoverished musicians and their families.

In August 1750, on a journey back from Germany to London, Handel was seriously injured in a carriage accident between The Hague and Haarlem in the Netherlands.^[61] In 1751 one eye started to fail. The cause was a cataract which was operated on by the great charlatan Chevalier Taylor. This led to uveitis and subsequent loss of vision. He died eight years later in 1759 at home in Brook Street, at age 74. The last performance he attended was of Messiah. Handel was buried in Westminster Abbey.^[62] More than three thousand mourners attended his funeral, which was given full state honours.

Handel never married, and kept his personal life private. His initial will bequeathed the bulk of his estate to his niece Johanna. However four codicils distributed much of his estate to other relations, servants, friends and charities.^[63]

Handel owned an art collection that was auctioned posthumously in 1760.^[64] The auction catalogue listed approximately seventy paintings and ten prints (other paintings were bequeathed).^[64]

Works[link]

Senesino, the famous castrato from Siena

Main articles: List of compositions by George Frideric Handel and List of operas by Handel.

Handel's compositions include 42 operas, 29 oratorios, more than 120 cantatas, trios and duets, numerous arias, chamber music, a large number of ecumenical pieces, odes and serenatas, and 16 organ concerti. His most famous work, the oratorio Messiah with its "Hallelujah" chorus, is among the most popular works in choral music and has become the centrepiece of the Christmas season. Among the works with opus numbers published and popularised in his lifetime are the Organ Concertos Op.4 and Op.7, together with the Opus 3 and Opus 6 concerti grossi; the latter incorporate an earlier organ concerto The Cuckoo and the Nightingale in which birdsong is imitated in the upper registers of the organ. Also notable are his sixteen keyboard suites, especially The Harmonious Blacksmith.

Handel introduced previously uncommon musical instruments in his works: the viola d'amore and violetta marina (Orlando), the lute (Ode for St. Cecilia's Day), three trombones (Saul), clarinets or small high cornetts (Tamerlano), theorbo, horn (Water Music), lyrichord, double bassoon, viola da gamba, bell chimes, positive organ, and harp (Giulio Cesare, Alexander's Feast).^[65]

Handel's works have been catalogued in the Händel-Werke-Verzeichnis and are commonly referred to by an HWV number. For example, Messiah is catalogued as HWV 56.

Legacy[link]

A Masquerade at the King's Theatre, Haymarket (c. 1724)

Handel's works were collected and preserved by two men in particular: Sir Samuel Hellier, a country squire whose musical acquisitions form the nucleus of the Shaw-Hellier Collection,^[66] and abolitionist Granville Sharp. The catalogue accompanying the National Portrait Gallery exhibition marking the tercentenary of the composer's birth calls them two men of the late eighteenth century "who have left us solid evidence of the means by which they indulged their enthusiasm".^[67]

After his death, Handel's Italian operas fell into obscurity, except for selections such as the aria from Serse, "Ombra mai fù". The oratorios continued to be performed but not long after Handel's death they were thought to need some modernisation, and Mozart orchestrated a German version of Messiah and other works. Throughout the 19th century and first half of the 20th century, particularly in the Anglophone countries, his reputation rested primarily on his English oratorios, which were customarily performed by enormous choruses of amateur singers on solemn occasions.

Since the Early Music Revival many of the forty-two operas he wrote have been performed in opera houses and concert halls.

Handel's music was studied by composers such as Haydn, Mozart and Beethoven

Recent decades have revived his secular cantatas and what one might call 'secular oratorios' or 'concert operas'. Of the former, Ode for St. Cecilia's Day (1739) (set to texts by John Dryden) and Ode for the Birthday of Queen Anne (1713) are noteworthy. For his secular oratorios, Handel turned to classical mythology for subjects, producing such works as Acis and Galatea (1719), Hercules (1745) and Semele (1744). These works have a close kinship with the sacred oratorios, particularly in the vocal writing for the English-language texts. They also share the lyrical and dramatic qualities of Handel's Italian operas. As such, they are sometimes performed onstage by small chamber ensembles. With the rediscovery of his theatrical works, Handel, in addition to his renown as instrumentalist, orchestral writer, and melodist, is now perceived as being one of opera's great musical dramatists.

A carved marble statue of Handel, created for the Vauxhall Gardens in 1738 by Louis-François Roubiliac, and now preserved in the Victoria & Albert Museum.

Handel's work was edited by Samuel Arnold (40 vols., London, 1787–1797), and by Friedrich Chrysander, for the German Händel-Gesellschaft (105 vols., Leipzig, 1858–1902).

Handel adopted the spelling "George Frideric Handel" on his naturalisation as a British subject, and this spelling is generally used in English-speaking countries. The original form of his name, Georg Friedrich Händel, is generally used in Germany and elsewhere, but he is known as "Haendel" in France. Another composer with a similar name, Handl or Händl, was an Austrian from Carniola and is more commonly known as Jacobus Gallus.

Musician's musician[link]

Handel has generally been accorded high esteem by fellow composers, both in his own time and since.^[68] Bach attempted, unsuccessfully, to meet with Handel while he was visiting Halle.^[69] Mozart is reputed to have said of him, "Handel understands affect better than any of us. When he chooses, he strikes like a thunder bolt."^[70] To Beethoven he was "the master of us all... the greatest composer that ever lived. I would uncover my head and kneel before his tomb".^[70] Beethoven emphasised above all the simplicity and popular appeal of Handel's music when he said, "Go to him to learn how to achieve great effects, by such simple means".

Homages[link]

Handel Commemoration in Westminster Abbey, 1784

After Handel's death, many composers wrote works based on or inspired by his music. The first movement from Louis Spohr's Symphony No. 6, Op. 116, "The Age of Bach and Handel", resembles two melodies from Handel's Messiah. In 1797 Ludwig van Beethoven published the 12 Variations in G major on ‘See the conqu’ring hero comes’ from Judas Maccabaeus by Handel, for cello and piano. Guitar virtuoso Mauro Giuliani composed his Variations on a Theme by Handel, Op. 107 for guitar, based on Handel's Suite No. 5 in E major, HWV 430, for harpsichord. In 1861, using a theme from the second of Handel's harpsichord suites, Johannes Brahms wrote the Variations and Fugue on a Theme by Handel, Op. 24, one of his most successful works (praised by Richard Wagner). Several works by the French composer Félix-Alexandre Guilmant use Handel's themes, for example his March on a Theme by Handel uses a theme from Messiah. French composer and flautist Philippe Gaubert wrote his Petite marche for flute and piano based on the fourth movement of Handel's Trio Sonata, Op. 5, No. 2, HWV 397. Argentine composer Luis Gianneo composed his Variations on a Theme by Handel for piano. In 1911, Australian-born composer and pianist Percy Grainger based one of his most famous works on the final movement of Handel's Suite No. 5 in E major (just like Giuliani). He first wrote some variations on the theme, which he titled Variations on Handel's ‘The Harmonious Blacksmith’ . Then he used the first sixteen bars of his set of variations to create Handel in the Strand, one of his most beloved pieces, of which he made several versions (for example, the piano solo version from 1930). Arnold Schoenberg's Concerto for String Quartet and Orchestra in B flat major (1933) was composed after Handel's Concerto Grosso, Op. 6/7.

Veneration[link]

Handel is honored together with Johann Sebastian Bach and Henry Purcell with a feast day on the liturgical calendar of the Episcopal Church (USA) on 28 July.

He is commemorated as a musician in the Calendar of Saints of the Lutheran Church on 28 July, with Johann Sebastian Bach and Heinrich Schütz.

He is commemorated as a musician along with Johann Sebastian Bach on 28 July by The Order of Saint Luke in their calendar of saints prepared for the use of The United Methodist Church.^[71]

Editions[link]

Between 1787 and 1797 Samuel Arnold compiled a 180-volume collection of Handel's works—however it was far from complete.^[72] Also incomplete was the collection produced between 1843 and 1858 by the English Handel Society (found by Sir George Macfarren).^[73]

The 105-volume Händel-Gesellschaft edition was published in the mid 19th century and was mainly edited by Friedrich Chrysander (often working alone in his home). For modern performance, the realisation of the basso continuo reflects 19th century practice. Vocal scores drawn from the edition were published by Novello in London, but some scores, such as the vocal score to Samson are incomplete.

The still-incomplete Hallische Händel-Ausgabe started to appear in 1956 (named for Halle in Saxony-Anhalt Eastern Germany, not the Netherlands). It did not start as a critical edition, but after heavy criticism of the first volumes, which were performing editions without a critical apparatus (for example, the opera Serse was published with the title character recast as a tenor reflecting pre-war German practice), it repositioned itself as a critical edition. Influenced in part by cold-war realities, editorial work was inconsistent: misprints are found in abundance and editors failed to consult important sources. In 1985 a committee was formed to establish better standards for the edition.

See also[link]

	Book: Georg Friedrich Händel
Wikipedia books are collections of articles that can be downloaded or ordered in print.

• Handel Reference Database
• Letters and writings of George Frideric Handel
• List of compositions by George Frideric Handel
• List of operas by Handel
• Publications by Friedrich Chrysander
• Valentine Snow
• Will of George Frideric Handel

Notes[link]

References[link]

• Abraham, Gerald (1954), Handel: a symposium, Oxford University Press 
• Burrows, Donald (1994), Handel, Oxford University Press, ISBN 0-19-816470-X 
• Burrows, Donald (1997), The Cambridge Companion to Handel, Cambridge University Press, ISBN 0-521-45613-4 
• Chrissochoidis, Ilias. "Early Reception of Handel's Oratorios, 1732–1784: Narrative – Studies – Documents" (PhD dissertation, Stanford University, 2004), available through UMI.
• Chrissochoidis, Ilias. "Handel at a Crossroads: His 1737–1738 and 1738–1739 Seasons Re-Examined", Music & Letters 90/4 (November 2009), 599–635.
• Chrissochoidis, Ilias. "Handel, Hogarth, Goupy: Artistic intersections in Handelian biography", Early Music 37/4 (November 2009), 577–596.
• Chrissochoidis, Ilias. "'hee-haw ... llelujah': Handel among the Vauxhall Asses (1732)", Eighteenth-Century Music 7/2 (September 2010), 221–262.
• Dean, Winton; Knapp, John Merrill (1987). Handel's Operas, 1704–1726. Oxford: Clarendon Press. ISBN 0-19-816441-6. 
• Dean, Winton (2006). Handel’s Operas, 1726–1741. The Boydell Press. http://www.boydell.co.uk/43832682.HTM. 
• Deutsch, Otto Erich (1955). Handel: A Documentary Biography. 
• Dent, Edward Joseph (2004). Handel. R A Kessinger Publishing. ISBN 1-4191-2275-4. 
• Frosch, W.A., The "case" of George Frideric Handel, New England Journal of Medicine, 1989; 321:765–769, 14 September 1989. content.nejm.org
• Harris, Ellen T. (general editor) The librettos of Handel's operas: a collection of seventy librettos documenting Handel's operatic career New York: Garland, 1989. ISBN 0-8240-3862-2
• Harris, Ellen T. Handel as Orpheus. Voice and Desire in the Chamber Cantatas Harvard University Press, 2001. ISBN 0-674-00617-8
• Hogwood, Christopher. Handel. London: Thames and Hudson, 1984. ISBN 0-500-01355-1
• Keates, Jonathan. Handel, the man and his music. London: V. Gollancz, 1985. ISBN 0-575-03573-0
• Keates, Jonathan (1985). Handel, the man and his music. New York: St Martin's Press. 
• Larsen, J.P. (1972). Handel's Messiah. London: Adams and Charles Black Limited. 
• Leopold, Silke. "Händel die Opern" Bärenreiter 2009, ISBN 978-3-7618-1991-3
• Meynell, Hugo. The Art of Handel's Operas The Edwin Mellen Press (1986) ISBN 0-88946-425-1
• National Portrait Gallery. Handel. A Celebration of his Life and Times 1685–1759. 
• Young, Percy Marshall (1966). Handel. New York: David White Company. 

External links[link]

• Howell, Ian. "How to Handle Spelling Händel". The Countertenor Voice (Feb 2011). http://blog.counterpointspublishing.com/2011/02/how-to-handle-spelling-handel/. 
• Howell, Ian. "Guiding Handel's Legacy: An Interview with Handel House Museum Director Sarah Bardwell". The Countertenor Voice (May 2011). http://blog.counterpointspublishing.com/2011/05/1721/. 

Find more about George Frideric Handel on Wikipedia's sister projects:
	Images and media from Commons
	Quotations from Wikiquote
	Source texts from Wikisource

• Edward Dent's Handel biography from Project Gutenberg
• Works by George Frideric Handel at Project Gutenberg
• The second volume of Winton Dean for "Handel's Operas" covering the years 1726–1741
• Friedrich Chrysander's Handel biography (in German)
• Biographical details web site
• Handel Houses:
  • The Handel House Museum
  • The Händel-Haus in Halle, Saxony-Anhalt
• Works by or about George Frideric Handel in libraries (WorldCat catalog)
• References on Handel
• Handel Reference Database

Scores and recordings[link]

• Free scores by George Frideric Handel at the International Music Score Library Project: includes Complete Works Edition (Ausgabe der Deutschen Händelgesellschaft)
• Free scores by George Frideric Handel in the Choral Public Domain Library (ChoralWiki)
• The Mutopia Project provides free downloading of sheet music and MIDI files for some of Handel's works.
• Free typeset sheet music of Handel's works from Cantorion.org
• Free scores by George Frideric Handel in the Werner Icking Music Archive (WIMA)
• Handel cylinder recordings, from the Cylinder Preservation and Digitization Project at the University of California, Santa Barbara Library.
• Handel's Sheet Music by free-scores.com
• Kunst der Fuge: George Frideric Handel – MIDI files
• Water Music, Organ Concertos op. 4, Tamerlano, etc. Creative Commons recordings

 This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Jackson, Samuel Macauley, ed. (1914). "^{article name needed}". New Schaff-Herzog Encyclopedia of Religious Knowledge (third ed.). London and New York: Funk and Wagnalls.