The Royal Academy of Music was a company founded in February 1719, during

George Frideric Handel George Frideric (or Frederick) Handel (; baptised , ; 23 February 1685 – 14 April 1759) was a German-British Baroque music, Baroque composer well known for his opera#Baroque era, operas, oratorios, anthems, concerto grosso, concerti grossi, ...

's residence at

Cannons A cannon is a large- caliber gun classified as a type of artillery, which usually launches a projectile using explosive chemical propellant. Gunpowder ("black powder") was the primary propellant before the invention of smokeless powder dur ...

, by a group of aristocrats to secure themselves a constant supply of

opera seria ''Opera seria'' (; plural: ''opere serie''; usually called ''dramma per musica'' or ''melodramma serio'') is an Italian musical term which refers to the noble and "serious" style of Italian opera that predominated in Europe from the 1710s to abo ...

. It is not connected to the London conservatoire with the same name, which was founded in 1822. It commissioned large numbers of new operas from three of the leading composers in Europe: Handel,

Attilio Ariosti Attilio Malachia Ariosti (or Frate Ottavio) (5 November 1666 – 1729) was a Servite Friar and Italian composer in the Baroque style, born in Bologna. He produced more than 30 operas and oratorios, numerous cantatas and instrumental works. Life ...

and

Giovanni Bononcini Giovanni Bononcini (or Buononcini) (18 July 1670 – 9 July 1747) (sometimes cited also as Giovanni Battista Bononcini) was an Italian Baroque composer, cellist, singer and teacher, one of a family of string players and composers. Biography E ...

. The Academy took the legal form of a

joint-stock A joint-stock company is a business entity in which shares of the company's stock can be bought and sold by shareholders. Each shareholder owns company stock in proportion, evidenced by their shares (certificates of ownership). Shareholders are ...

corporation under letters patent issued by

George I of Great Britain George I (George Louis; ; 28 May 1660 – 11 June 1727) was King of Great Britain and Ireland from 1 August 1714 and ruler of the Electorate of Hanover within the Holy Roman Empire from 23 January 1698 until his death in 1727. He was the first ...

for a term of 21 years with a governor, a deputy governor and at least fifteen directors. The (first) Royal Academy lasted for only nine seasons instead of twenty-one, but both the New or Second Academy and the

Opera of the Nobility The Opera of the Nobility (or Nobility Opera ) was an opera company set up and funded in 1733 by a group of nobles (under Frederick, Prince of Wales) opposed to George II of Great Britain, in order to rival the (Second) Royal Academy of Music compan ...

seem to have operated under its

Royal Charter A royal charter is a formal grant issued by a monarch under royal prerogative as letters patent. Historically, they have been used to promulgate public laws, the most famous example being the English Magna Carta (great charter) of 1215, bu ...

until the expiry of the original term. Handel was appointed as Master of the orchestra responsible not only for engaging soloists but also for adapting operas from abroad and for providing possible libretti for his own use, generally provided from Italy. Initially the librettist

Paolo Antonio Rolli Paolo Antonio Rolli (13 June 1687 – 20 March 1765) was an Italian librettist, poet and translator. Biography Paolo Rolli was born in Rome, Italy and like Metastasio was trained by Gian Vincenzo Gravina. The earl of Burlington brought hi ...

was the "Italian secretary of the Academy"; he was replaced by

Nicola Francesco Haym Nicola Francesco Haym (6 July 1678 – 31 July 1729) was an Italian opera librettist, composer, theatre manager and performer, literary editor and numismatist. He is best remembered for adapting texts into libretti for the London operas of Georg ...

within a few years.

The subscribers

The capital of £10,000 was divided into 50 shares of £200 each. Sixty-three people initially subscribed for shares. The issue was rapidly oversubscribed: several took more than one share:

Lord Burlington Earl of Burlington is a title that has been created twice, the first time in the Peerage of England in 1664 and the second in the Peerage of the United Kingdom in 1831. Since 1858, Earl of Burlington has been a courtesy title used by the duk ...

subscribed £1000.

Otto Erich Deutsch Otto Erich Deutsch (5 September 1883 – 23 November 1967) was an Austrian musicologist. He is known for compiling the first comprehensive catalogue of Franz Schubert's compositions, first published in 1951 in English, with a revised edition pub ...

printed a list of 63 names, a later list by

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 ...

carried 73 names. The extra ten were perhaps those admitted at the directors' meetings on 30 November and 2 December 1719. This would give a total capital of £17,600. The first twelve and main subscribers listed, were the

Lord Chamberlain The Lord Chamberlain of the Household is the most senior officer of the Royal Household of the United Kingdom, supervising the departments which support and provide advice to the Sovereign of the United Kingdom while also acting as the main cha ...

Duke of Kent Duke of Kent is a title that has been created several times in the peerages of peerage of Great Britain, Great Britain and the peerage of the United Kingdom, United Kingdom, most recently as a Royal dukedoms in the United Kingdom, royal dukedom ...

appointed as governor but never on duty as such, followed by the Duke of Newcastle as governor, the Duke of Grafton, the Duke of Portland, the Duke of Manchester the deputy governor, the Duke of Chandos, the Duke of Montrose, the Earl of Sunderland, the Earl of Rochester, the Earl of Berkeley, the Earl of Burlington, the Earl of Litchfield and the Earl of Lincoln.In 1723 the Academy paid a dividend of seven percent. It was the only dividend they ever paid.

Directors

John Vanbrugh Sir John Vanbrugh (; 24 January 1664 (baptised) – 26 March 1726) was an English architect, dramatist and herald, perhaps best known as the designer of Blenheim Palace and Castle Howard. He wrote two argumentative and outspoken Restora ...

and Colonel John Blathwayt, noted for his musical talents who had studied harpsichord under

Alessandro Scarlatti Pietro Alessandro Gaspare Scarlatti (2 May 1660 – 22 October 1725) was an Italian Baroque composer, known especially for his operas and chamber cantatas. He is considered the most important representative of the Neapolitan school of opera. ...

, seem to have been the only two competent directors. Other directors were Lord Bingley, Mr James Bruce, Mr

Benjamin Mildmay, 1st Earl FitzWalter Benjamin Mildmay, 1st Earl FitzWalter (27 December 167229 February 1756), styled The Honourable Benjamin Mildmay until 1728 and known as The Lord FitzWalter between 1728 and 1730, was a British politician. He served as First Lord of Trade betw ...

, Mr

Bryan Fairfax Lancelot Beresford Bryan Fairfax (8 February 192511 January 2014) was an Australian conductor based in the United Kingdom, who was known for his championing of little known or neglected works.Charles Whitworth), Doctor

John Arbuthnot John Arbuthnot FRS (''baptised'' 29 April 1667 – 27 February 1735), often known simply as Dr Arbuthnot, was a Scottish physician, satirist and polymath in London. He is best remembered for his contributions to mathematics, his membersh ...

, Mr

John James Heidegger John James (Johann Jacob) Heidegger (19 June 1666 – 5 September 1749) was a Swiss count and leading impresario of masquerades in the early part of the 18th century. The son of Zürich clergyman Johann Heinrich Heidegger, Johann Jacob Heidegger ...

, the Duke of Queensbury, the Earl of Stair, the Earl of Waldegrave, Lord Chetwind, Lord Stanhope, Thomas Coke of Norfolk,

Conyers Darcy Sir Conyers Darcy or Darcey, (c. 16851 December 1758), of Aske, near Richmond, Yorkshire, was a British Army officer, courtier and Whig politician who sat in the House of Commons between 1707 and 1758. Early life Darcy was the second surviving ...

, Brigadier-General Dormer, Colonel O'Hara, Brigadier-General Hunter, William Poultney and Major-General Wade.

Musicians

On 14 May 1719 Handel was ordered by the

and governor of the corporation, the Duke of Newcastle, to look for new singers. Handel travelled to

Dresden Dresden (, ; Upper Saxon: ''Dräsdn''; wen, label=Upper Sorbian, Drježdźany) is the capital city of the German state of Saxony and its second most populous city, after Leipzig. It is the 12th most populous city of Germany, the fourth larg ...

to attend the newly built opera house. He saw ''Teofane'' by

Antonio Lotti Antonio Lotti (5 January 1667 – 5 January 1740) was an Italian composer of the Baroque era. Biography Lotti was born in Venice, although his father Matteo was ''Kapellmeister'' at Hanover at the time. Oral tradition says that in 1682, Lotti be ...

, composed for the wedding of

August III of Poland Augustus III ( pl, August III Sas, lt, Augustas III; 17 October 1696 5 October 1763) was King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania from 1733 until 1763, as well as Elector of Saxony in the Holy Roman Empire where he was known as Frederick Augu ...

, and engaged leading members of the cast on behalf of the Royal Academy of Music. In April 1720 the Academy began producing operas. The orchestra consisted of seventeen violins, two

viola The viola ( , also , ) is a string instrument that is bow (music), bowed, plucked, or played with varying techniques. Slightly larger than a violin, it has a lower and deeper sound. Since the 18th century, it has been the middle or alto voice of ...

s, four cellos, two double basses, four

oboe The oboe ( ) is a type of double reed woodwind instrument. Oboes are usually made of wood, but may also be made of synthetic materials, such as plastic, resin, or hybrid composites. The most common oboe plays in the treble or soprano range. A ...

s, three

bassoon The bassoon is a woodwind instrument in the double reed family, which plays in the tenor and bass ranges. It is composed of six pieces, and is usually made of wood. It is known for its distinctive tone color, wide range, versatility, and virtuo ...

s, a

theorbo The theorbo is a plucked string instrument of the lute family, with an extended neck and a second pegbox. Like a lute, a theorbo has a curved-back sound box (a hollow box) with a wooden top, typically with a sound hole, and a neck extending ou ...

and a trumpet. The brothers Prospero and

Pietro Castrucci Pietro Castrucci (1679 – 7 March 1752) was an Italian violinist and composer. Castrucci was born in Rome, where he studied with Arcangelo Corelli; in 1715, he settled in London, where he became known as one of the finest virtuoso violinists of ...

as well as Johan Helmich Roman and John Jones were violinists. Bononcini was a cellist, he and Handel presumably accompanied the

recitative Recitative (, also known by its Italian name "''recitativo''" ()) is a style of delivery (much used in operas, oratorios, and cantatas) in which a singer is allowed to adopt the rhythms and delivery of ordinary speech. Recitative does not repea ...

s in all the operas.

Filippo Amadei Filippo Amadei, also known as Pippo del Violoncello ( fl. 1690–1730) was an Italian composer from Reggio Emilia, who was active in Rome and London. He appears to have worked as composer of cantatas, oratorios, and as a cellist for Cardinal ...

, one of the composers of ''

Muzio Scevola ''Muzio Scevola'' (; "Mucius Scaevola", HWV 13) is an opera seria in three acts about Gaius Mucius Scaevola. The Italian-language libretto was by Paolo Antonio Rolli, adapted from a text by Silvio Stampiglia. The music for the first act was ...

'', also played cello, Pietro Giuseppe Sandoni, who would soon marry

Francesca Cuzzoni Francesca Cuzzoni (2 April 1696 – 19 June 1778) was an Italian operatic soprano of the Baroque era. Early career Cuzzoni was born in Parma. Her father, Angelo, was a professional violinist, and her singing teacher was Francesco Lanzi. She ma ...

, was the second harpsichord player. John Baptist Grano was the trumpeter, John Festing played oboe; Charles Frederick Weideman was the flautist and oboist and is also known from his appearance in ''

The Enraged Musician ''The Enraged Musician'' is a 1741 etching and engraving by English artist William Hogarth which depicts a comic scene of a violinist driven to distraction by the cacophony outside his window. It was issued as companion piece to the third state ...

''. The first opera staged by the Academy was ''Numitore'' composed by

Giovanni Porta Giovanni Porta (c. 1677 – 21 June 1755) was an Italian opera composer. His opera ''Argippo'', to a libretto by Domenico Lalli, was premiered in Venice in 1717.Freeman, Daniel E. (1992)''The Opera Theater of Count Franz Anton Von Sporck in ...

, the second was '' Radamisto'' by Handel and the third ''

Narciso Narciso may refer to: Given name * Narciso Clavería y de Palacios, Spanish architect * Narciso Clavería y Zaldúa, Governor General of the Philippines * Narciso dos Santos, Brazilian former footballer * Narciso Durán, Franciscan friar and missio ...

'' by

Domenico Scarlatti Giuseppe Domenico Scarlatti, also known as Domingo or Doménico Scarlatti (26 October 1685-23 July 1757), was an Italian composer. He is classified primarily as a Baroque composer chronologically, although his music was influential in the deve ...

Operas and singers

Extravagant fees were offered to entice the best performers from Italy. For

Margherita Durastanti Margherita Durastanti (active 1700–1734) was an Italian singer of the 18th century. Vocally, she is best described as a soprano, though later in her career her tessitura descended to that of a mezzo-soprano. First heard of professionally in Man ...

in the role of '' Radamisto'', Handel wrote one of his favourite arias, ''Ombra cara di mia sposa''. The great singers who were to be the brightest stars of the Royal Academy during the next few years, such as the

castrato A castrato (Italian, plural: ''castrati'') is a type of classical male singing voice equivalent to that of a soprano, mezzo-soprano, or contralto. The voice is produced by castration of the singer before puberty, or it occurs in one who, due to ...

Senesino Francesco Bernardi (; 31 October 1686 – 27 November 1758), known as Senesino ( or traditionally ), was a celebrated Italian contralto castrato, particularly remembered today for his long collaboration with the composer George Frideric Handel ...

and the soprano

, had not yet arrived in London. Senesino had obligations to fulfill and arrived in September 1720, accompanied by a group of outstanding singers: the castrato

Matteo Berselli Matteo is the Italian form of the given name Matthew. Another form is Mattia. The Hebrew meaning of Matteo is "gift of god". Matteo can also be used as a patronymic surname, often in the forms of de Matteo, De Matteo or DeMatteo, meaning " escenda ...

, the soprano Maddalena Salvai and the bass Giuseppe Boschi. Handel used the libretto of ''Teofane'' for his ''

Ottone ''Ottone, re di Germania'' ("Otto, King of Germany", HWV 15) is an opera by George Frideric Handel, to an Italian–language libretto adapted by Nicola Francesco Haym from the libretto by Stefano Benedetto Pallavicino for Antonio Lotti's opera ...

'', with Cuzzoni as

prima donna In opera or commedia dell'arte, a prima donna (; Italian for "first lady"; plural: ''prime donne'') is the leading female singer in the company, the person to whom the prime roles would be given. ''Prime donne'' often had grand off-stage pers ...

. It became his most successful opera in the years of the Academy. In 1724 and 1725 Handel wrote several masterpieces: ''

Giulio Cesare ''Giulio Cesare in Egitto'' (; , HWV 17), commonly known as ''Giulio Cesare'', is a dramma per musica ('' opera seria'') in three acts composed by George Frideric Handel for the Royal Academy of Music in 1724. The libretto was written by Nic ...

'', (1724) with many

da capo Da capo (, also , ) is an Italian musical term that means "from the beginning" (literally, "from the head"). It is often abbreviated as D.C. The term is a directive to repeat the previous part of music, often used to save space, and thus is an ...

arias that became famous, and

Anastasia Robinson Anastasia Robinson ( – April 1755), later known as Anastasia, Countess of Peterborough, was an English soprano, later contralto, of the Baroque era. She is best remembered for her association with the composer George Frideric Handel, in who ...

as Cornelia. Not a castrato but a tenor,

Francesco Borosini Francesco Borosini (1695 – after 1747) was an Italian opera singer. Although usually described as a tenor, he had an extraordinarily wide vocal range spanning bass to tenor. He was known not only for the quality of his singing but for his ski ...

, sang the leading role of Bajazet in Handel's most powerfully tragic opera ''

Tamerlano ''Tamerlano'' (Tamerlane, HWV 18) is an opera seria in three acts by George Frideric Handel. The Italian libretto was by Nicola Francesco Haym, adapted from Agostin Piovene's ''Tamerlano'' together with another libretto entitled ''Bajazet'' aft ...

'' (also 1724). Insisting on adding the death of Bajazet he had a direct role in shaping the climax of the work.

called the prison scene's "Chi di voi" in '' Rodelinda'' (1725) "one of the finest pathetic airs that can be found in all andel'sworks." Eventually Bononcini was dismissed, and went into private service, Robinson retired and Joseph Goupy may have been employed as a scene-painter. In February 1726 Handel revived his ''

'', which had been spectacularly successful at its first performances in 1723 and was again a hit at its revival, with a London newspaper reporting Francesca Cuzzoni (1696-1778) - soprano

As the newspaper notes, full houses were by no means a regular occurrence by that time, and the directors of the Royal Academy of Music decided to increase audiences' interest by bringing another celebrated international opera star, Italian soprano

Faustina Bordoni Faustina Bordoni (30 March 1697 – 4 November 1781) was an Italian mezzo-soprano. In Hamburg, Germany, the Johann Adolph Hasse Museum is dedicated to her husband and partly to Bordoni. Early career She was born in Venice and brought up unde ...

, to join established London favourites Francesca Cuzzoni and the star castrato Senesino in the company's performances. Many opera companies in Italy featured two leading ladies in one opera and Faustina (as she was known) and Cuzzoni had appeared together in opera performances in various European cities with no trouble; there is no indication that there was any bad feeling or ill-will between the two of them prior to their London joint appearances. The three stars, Bordoni, Cuzzoni and Senesino commanded astronomical fees, making much more money from the opera seasons than Handel did. The opera company would have been aware that the story of the two princesses in love with Alexander the Great chosen for the two prima donnas' first joint appearance in Handel's ''

Alessandro Alessandro is both a given name and a surname, the Italian form of the name Alexander. Notable people with the name include: People with the given name Alessandro * Alessandro Allori (1535–1607), Italian portrait painter * Alessandro Baricco ...

'' was familiar to London audiences through a tragedy by

Nathaniel Lee Nathaniel Lee (c. 1653 – 6 May 1692) was an England, English dramatist. He was the son of Dr Richard Lee, a Presbyterian clergyman who was rector of Hatfield and held many preferments under the Commonwealth of England, Commonwealth; Dr Lee was ...

, ''The Rival Queens, or the Death of Alexander the Great'', first performed in 1677 and often revived and it may be that they were encouraging the idea that the two singers were rivals. One of the agents who had arranged Faustina's appearances in London,

Owen Swiny Owen Swiny (Also spelled McSwiny, Swiney, MacSwiny or MacSwinny) (1676, near Enniscorthy, Ireland – 2 October 1754) was an Irish theatre impresario and art dealer active in London known for his work in popularising Italian opera in London ...

, explicitly warned against the choice of libretto as likely to cause "disorder" in a letter to the directors of the Royal Academy of Music, imploring them: The performances of ''Alessandro'' went off with no signs of animosity between Bordoni and Cuzzoni or their respective supporters, but it was not very long after that tension between the two erupted. As 18th century musicologist

observed about the Cuzzoni / Faustina rivalry: Handel's next opera, ''

Admeto ' ("Admetus, King of Thessaly", HWV 22) is a three-act opera written for the Royal Academy of Music with music composed by George Frideric Handel to an Italian-language libretto prepared by Nicola Francesco Haym. The story is partly based on Eur ...

'', again with roles for both sopranos, was well-received and had nineteen performances in its initial run, a mark of success for those times. Many audience members were extremely enthusiastic about the singers. At the conclusion of one of Cuzzoni's arias at a performance of the original run, a man in the gallery called out "Damn her: she has got a nest of nightingales in her belly". However, some members of the London audience had become fiercely partisan in favouring either Bordoni or Cuzzoni and disliking the other and at the performance of ''Admeto'' on 4 April 1727 with members of the royal family present, elements of the audience were extremely unruly, hissing and interrupting the performance with cat-calls when the "rival" to their favourite was performing, causing public scandal. Cuzzoni issued a public apology to the royal family through one of her supporters: These sort of disturbances continued however, climaxing that June in a performance at the Academy of an opera by

, ''Astianatte''. With royalty again present in the person of the Princess of Wales, Cuzzoni and Faustina were onstage together and members of the audience who were supporters of one of the prima donnas were loudly protesting and hissing whenever the other one sang. Actual fist fights broke out in the audience between rival groups of "fans" and Cuzzoni and Faustina stopped singing, began trading insults and finally came to blows onstage and had to be dragged apart. ''The British Journal'' of 10 June reported: The performance was abandoned, creating an enormous scandal reported gleefully in newspapers and pamphlets, satirised in

John Gay John Gay (30 June 1685 – 4 December 1732) was an English poet and dramatist and member of the Scriblerus Club. He is best remembered for ''The Beggar's Opera'' (1728), a ballad opera. The characters, including Captain Macheath and Polly Peac ...

's ''

The Beggar's Opera ''The Beggar's Opera'' is a ballad opera in three acts written in 1728 by John Gay with music arranged by Johann Christoph Pepusch. It is one of the watershed plays in Augustan drama and is the only example of the once thriving genre of satiri ...

'' of 1728, and tainting the entire reputation of Italian opera in London with disrepute in the eyes of many. The most popular account of the onstage fight between the two

s was ''The Devil To Pay at St. James's: Or, A Full And True Account of a Most Horrible And Bloody Battle Between Madam Faustina And Madam Cuzzoni, Etc'', an anonymous poem in rhyming couplets. Despite this fiasco, both ladies continued to appear together onstage in several more operas presented by the Academy, among them ''

Siroe ''Siroe, re di Persia'' ('' Siroes, King of Persia'', HWV 24), is an opera seria in three acts by George Frideric Handel. It was his 12th opera for the Royal Academy of Music and was written for the sopranos Francesca Cuzzoni and Faustina Bordo ...

'' by Handel, the first time he used a libretto originally by

Pietro Metastasio Pietro Antonio Domenico Trapassi (3 January 1698 – 12 April 1782), better known by his pseudonym of Pietro Metastasio (), was an Italian poet and librettist, considered the most important writer of '' opera seria'' libretti. Early life Me ...

. The Royal Academy of Music collapsed at the end of the 1728 – 29 season, partly due to the huge fees paid to the star singers, and Cuzzoni and Faustina both left London for engagements in continental Europe. Handel started a new opera company with a new prima donna,

Anna Strada Anna Maria Strada (floruit, fl. 1719–1741, in Bergamo) was an Italian soprano. She is best remembered for her association with the composer George Frideric Handel, in whose operas Strada sang. Career After an initial career in Italy that inc ...

. One of Handel's librettists,

Paolo Rolli Paolo Antonio Rolli (13 June 1687 – 20 March 1765) was an Italian Libretto, librettist, poet and translator. Biography Paolo Rolli was born in Rome, Italy and like Metastasio was trained by Gian Vincenzo Gravina. The Richard Boyle, 3rd ...

, wrote in a letter (the original is in Italian) that Handel said that Strada "sings better than the two who have left us, because one of them (Faustina) never pleased him at all and he would like to forget the other (Cuzzoni)." The death of

George I George I or 1 may refer to: People * Patriarch George I of Alexandria (fl. 621–631) * George I of Constantinople (d. 686) * George I of Antioch (d. 790) * George I of Abkhazia (ruled 872/3–878/9) * George I of Georgia (d. 1027) * Yuri Dolgor ...

caused the performance of ''

Riccardo Primo ''Riccardo primo, re d'Inghilterra'' ("Richard the First, King of England", HWV 23) is an opera seria in three acts written by George Frideric Handel for the Royal Academy of Music (1719) . The Italian-language libretto was by Paolo Antonio R ...

'' to be postponed until the next season and prompted both librettist Paolo Rolli and composer to make significant changes to their work. They decided to give the patriotic drum a good thump by adding gratuitous references to British valour, justice and power. 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. It marked the beginning of a change in London musical taste and fashion, away from Italian opera in favour of something less highbrow, more home-grown, and more easily intelligible. The 1727–28 season boasted three new operas, but in 1729 the directors agreed to suspend activity after losing money. Not Handel, he had been the only one on their pay list. He immediately started a New or Second Academy of Music. The Royal Academy produced 461 performances, 235 were works by Handel: 13 operas. Eight operas were by Bononcini (114 performances) and seven operas by Ariosti (54 performances).

The New or Second Academy

In 1729 Handel became joint manager of the King's Theatre with the Swiss aristocrat

. Handel travelled to Italy to engage seven new singers. In Bologna he met with

, a former theatre manager from London. Back home he composed seven more operas. On his way back he visited his mother and probably met with

Wilhelm Friedemann Bach Wilhelm Friedemann Bach (22 November 17101 July 1784), the second child and eldest son of Johann Sebastian Bach and Maria Barbara Bach, was a German composer and performer. Despite his acknowledged genius as an organist, improviser and composer ...

, sent by his father, as the story goes.

Johann Sebastian Bach Johann Sebastian Bach (28 July 1750) was a German composer and musician of the late Baroque period. He is known for his orchestral music such as the '' Brandenburg Concertos''; instrumental compositions such as the Cello Suites; keyboard w ...

, working only 20 miles away in Köthen, arrived too late to meet with his famous colleague, who had left earlier that day. Back in London Handel produced '' Ezio'', an expensive disaster.

ranked the score of his next opera ''

Sosarme ''Sosarme, re di Media'' ("Sosarmes, King of Media", HWV 30) is an opera by George Frideric Handel written in 1732 for the King's Theatre in the Haymarket, London, where it ran for 12 performances. The text was based on an earlier libretto by ...

'' among his most pleasing; Dean states the opera does more honour to Handel as a musician than as a dramatist. Handel composed ''

Partenope ''Partenope'' ("Parthenope", HWV 27) is an opera by George Frideric Handel, first performed at the King's Theatre in London on 24 February 1730. Although following the structure and forms of opera seria, the work is humorous in character and li ...

'', ''

Poro The Poro, or Purrah or Purroh, is a men's secret society in Sierra Leone, Liberia, Guinea, and the Ivory Coast, introduced by the Mane people. It is sometimes referred to as a hunting society and only males are admitted to its ranks. The femal ...

'', and ''

Orlando Orlando () is a city in the U.S. state of Florida and is the county seat of Orange County. In Central Florida, it is the center of the Orlando metropolitan area, which had a population of 2,509,831, according to U.S. Census Bureau figures rele ...

'', but with mixed success with the public. In the long run Handel failed to compete with the

, who had engaged musicians such as

Johann Adolf Hasse Johann Adolph Hasse (baptised 25 March 1699 – 16 December 1783) was an 18th-century German composer, singer and teacher of music. Immensely popular in his time, Hasse was best known for his prolific operatic output, though he also composed a co ...

, Nicolo Porpora and the famous castrato

Farinelli Farinelli (; 24 January 1705 – 16 September 1782) was the stage name of Carlo Maria Michelangelo Nicola Broschi (), a celebrated Italian castrato singer of the 18th century and one of the greatest singers in the history of opera. Farinelli h ...

Frederick, Prince of Wales Frederick, Prince of Wales, (Frederick Louis, ; 31 January 170731 March 1751), was the eldest son and heir apparent of King George II of Great Britain. He grew estranged from his parents, King George and Queen Caroline. Frederick was the fath ...

and the anti-German faction of the English nobility who backed the Opera of Nobility sought to gain ground against the German court by attacking the foreigner Handel, little concerned about the paradox of the situation: the nationalistic faction fought with the weapon of the foreign Italian opera and summoned the aid of foreigners such as Hasse, himself an Italianized German like Handel. Handel had composed about 30 operas for the Royal Academy. and moved his productions to

Covent Garden Covent Garden is a district in London, on the eastern fringes of the West End, between St Martin's Lane and Drury Lane. It is associated with the former fruit-and-vegetable market in the central square, now a popular shopping and tourist si ...

. The

took over the King's Theatre. The Academy survived until 1734, after which it encountered many difficulties: arguments between Handel and his singers, the dismissal of

after quarrels with the directors, disagreement between the directors themselves, about the employment of new singers and squabbles on stage, but for all the Academy's problems, its success was enormous.Handel, A Celebration of his life and times, p. 111.

Sources

* Dean, W. & J.M. Knapp (1995) Handel's operas 1704–1726. Revised Edition. Oxford: Clarendon Press. * Dean, W. (2006) “Handel’s Operas, 1726–1741”, (The Boydell Press). Woodbridge. * Dean, W. (1993) "Handel's Sosarme, a Puzzle Opera". In: Essays on Opera. Oxford University Press. Oxford. . * Deutsch, O.E. (1955), Handel: A Documentary Biography. W.W. Norton & Company Inc Publishers. New York. Reprint 1974, Da Capo Press. * Bukofzer, M.F. (1948) Music in the Baroque Era. From Monteverdi to Bach. J.M. Dent & Sons Ltd. London, Toronto, Melbourne. Reprint 1983. . * Handel, A Celebration of his life and times, 1685–1759. Edited by Jacob Simon. Published by the National Portrait Gallery, London.

References

External links

Handel Reference Database
(in progress{{when, date=June 2014)
Jstor.org 3207146

Jstor.org 735336
1719 establishments in England Companies established in 1719 1719 in music George Frideric Handel