''Der beglückte Florindo'' ( HWV 3) is an

opera Opera is a form of theatre in which music is a fundamental component and dramatic roles are taken by singers. Such a "work" (the literal translation of the Italian word "opera") is typically a collaboration between a composer and a librett ...

composed by

Handel George Frideric (or Frederick) Handel (; baptised , ; 23 February 1685 – 14 April 1759) was a German-British Baroque composer well known for his operas, oratorios, anthems, concerti grossi, and organ concertos. Handel received his training i ...

at the request of

Reinhard Keiser Reinhard Keiser (9 January 1674 – 12 September 1739) was a German opera composer based in Hamburg. He wrote over a hundred operas. Johann Adolf Scheibe (writing in 1745) considered him an equal to Johann Kuhnau, George Frideric Handel and Georg ...

, the manager of the Hamburg Opera. It was first performed (after Handel had left for Italy) at the Theater am Gänsemarkt in January 1708. It was probably directed from the

harpsichord A harpsichord ( it, clavicembalo; french: clavecin; german: Cembalo; es, clavecín; pt, cravo; nl, klavecimbel; pl, klawesyn) is a musical instrument played by means of a keyboard. This activates a row of levers that turn a trigger mechanism ...

Christoph Graupner Christoph Graupner (13 January 1683 – 10 May 1760) was a German composer and harpsichordist of late Baroque music who was a contemporary of Johann Sebastian Bach, Georg Philipp Telemann and George Frideric Handel. Life Born in Hartmannsdorf ...

. The opera was the first part of a double opera, with the second part, ''Die verwandelte Daphne'', intended to be performed on the following evening. Keiser inserted a play in low German, called ''die lustige Hochzeit'', into the opera, afraid that the audience would get tired otherwise. Handel was not pleased, according to

Romain Rolland Romain Rolland (; 29 January 1866 – 30 December 1944) was a French dramatist, novelist, essayist, art historian and Mysticism, mystic who was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1915 "as a tribute to the lofty idealism of his literary pro ...

. Only fragments of the score survive, but a copy of the libretto exists in the

Library of Congress The Library of Congress (LOC) is the research library that officially serves the United States Congress and is the ''de facto'' national library of the United States. It is the oldest federal cultural institution in the country. The library is ...

.Coopersmith, J. M., Review of ''Handel'' by Herbert Weinstock (December 1946). ''Notes'' (2nd Ser.), 4 (1): pp. 85-89. The libretto was by Hinrich Hinsch, a lawyer, who also wrote the text for Keiser's first opera in Hamburg: ''Mahumet II'' (1696), based on the life of

Mehmet II Mehmed II ( ota, محمد ثانى, translit=Meḥmed-i s̱ānī; tr, II. Mehmed, ; 30 March 14323 May 1481), commonly known as Mehmed the Conqueror ( ota, ابو الفتح, Ebū'l-fetḥ, lit=the Father of Conquest, links=no; tr, Fâtih Su ...

. Hinsch had been writing librettos since 1681. He died in 1712.

References

Notes Sources * {{Authority control Operas by George Frideric Handel 1708 operas Operas Opera world premieres at the Hamburg State Opera German-language operas Lost operas

See also

References