Gustavus Waltz ( fl. 1732–1759) was a German bass

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 ...

singer. Basing himself in England from 1732, he collaborated with

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 ...

from 1733 when he appeared in ''La Semiramide riconosciuta'', an opera pasticcio. Like Handel, Waltz took British nationality.. Waltz created roles in the oratorio ''

Athalia Athaliah ( el, Γοθολία ''Gotholía''; la, Athalia) was the daughter of either king Omri, or of King Ahab and Queen Jezebel of Israel, the queen consort of Judah as the wife of King Jehoram, a descendant of King David, and later quee ...

'' (1733); and in the operas '' Arianna in Creta'' (1734), ''

Ariodante ''Ariodante'' ( HWV 33) is an opera seria in three acts by George Frideric Handel. The anonymous Italian libretto was based on a work by Antonio Salvi, which in turn was adapted from Canti 4, 5 and 6 of Ludovico Ariosto's ''Orlando Furioso''. Ea ...

'' (1735), ''

Alcina ''Alcina'' ( HWV 34) is a 1735 opera seria by George Frideric Handel. Handel used the libretto of ''L'isola di Alcina'', an opera that was set in 1728 in Rome by Riccardo Broschi, which he acquired the year after during his travels in Italy. P ...

'' (1735), and ''Atalanta'' (1736). As well as being a soloist, he sang in the chorus (for the last time in a 1754 performance of ''

Messiah In Abrahamic religions, a messiah or messias (; , ; , ; ) is a saviour or liberator of a group of people. The concepts of ''mashiach'', messianism, and of a Messianic Age originated in Judaism, and in the Hebrew Bible, in which a ''mashiach'' ...

'' at the

Foundling Hospital The Foundling Hospital in London, England, was founded in 1739 by the philanthropic sea captain Thomas Coram. It was a children's home established for the "education and maintenance of exposed and deserted young children." The word "hospital" w ...

). He also taught singing: his students included

Isabella Young Isabella Young (also Isabella Scott) (17?, London – 12 August 1791, London) was an English mezzo-soprano and organist who had a successful career as a concert performer and opera singer during the latter half of the eighteenth century. Young bec ...

Waltz as a cook

Some sources state that in addition to his musical activities, he worked for Handel as a cook, perhaps before gaining recognition as a singer.Handel's Songs and Singers

Music & Letters ''Music & Letters'' is an academic journal published quarterly by Oxford University Press with a focus on musicology. The journal sponsors the Music & Letters Trust, twice-yearly cash awards of variable amounts to support research in the music fie ...

, vol. 16, no. 3, 1935, pp. 200–207. Accessed via JSTOR (subscription required) 26 July 2020. This employment would presumably have been at

Brook Street Brook Street is an axial street in the exclusive central London district of Mayfair. Most of it is leasehold, paying ground rent to and seeking lease renewals from the reversioner, that since before 1800, has been the Grosvenor Estate. Named a ...

where Handel lived from the 1720s until his death. There is an anecdote about Handel's opinion of a fellow composer, his younger contemporary

Gluck Christoph Willibald (Ritter von) Gluck (; 2 July 1714 – 15 November 1787) was a composer of Italian and French opera in the early classical period (music), classical period. Born in the Upper Palatinate and raised in Bohemia, both part of the ...

, which refers to Waltz as a cook.

Charles Burney Charles Burney (7 April 1726 – 12 April 1814) was an English music historian, composer and musician. He was the father of the writers Frances Burney and Sarah Burney, of the explorer James Burney, and of Charles Burney, a classicist a ...

reports Handel as saying that "he (Gluck) knows no more of contrapunto, as my cook, Waltz." Given that Waltz was an excellent singer who performed in many of Handel's works, the remark would have been less of a put down than it might appear. A choral singer as well as a soloist, he would have had some knowledge of counterpoint..

References

*Warrack, John and West, Ewan (1992), ''The Oxford Dictionary of Opera'', 782 pages, 1759 deaths German expatriates in England German operatic basses Year of birth unknown {{Germany-opera-singer-stub