"There was Handel, in this Italian world, in Venice, the city rich with the creations of a phenomenal school of music, which sat in judgment over the foreigners who came to the promised land of opera to try their hand right at the source. Most of the pilgrims appeared in vain; whether respected mature masters or fiery youths, the Transalpines could not quite win their case before the court, for few are among the elect. But this young Saxon, whom they will call il caro Sassone, settled among the legion of the obscure with secure calm and confidence, and when Venice judged the court found in his favor. Then one day, without hesitation, Handel sat down on the throne in the royal palace of opera and, almost before anyone was aware of it, put on the king's robe. Now the robe was his and could have been for life, but as we shall see, for some mysterious reason he laid it down soon after his possession of it was recognized all over Italy, to return to the Germanic world." Paul Henry Lang
Handel's voice is immediate, present, in the room. Living. Happy 338th GFH
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IwjIiUNBiTk
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Quote from: Abdel Ove Allhan on February 23, 2023, 07:43:08 AM"Then one day, without hesitation, Handel sat down on the throne in the royal palace of opera and, almost before anyone was aware of it, put on the king's robe. Now the robe was his and could have been for life, but as we shall see, for some mysterious reason he laid it down soon after his possession of it was recognized all over Italy, to return to the Germanic world." Paul Henry Lang
I don't know the context of the quote, but surely Handel composed all his Italian operas in England and, far from quickly laying down the operatic robe, he wore it until it was threadbare, or at least until fashions had changed (and after he had composed 40-odd operas).
That's mostly true but Handel wrote two operas in Italy, Rodrigo (Florence 1707) and Aggrippina (Venice 1709). (And 4 in Hamburg before that, of which 3 are lost, though).
Quote from: DaveF on February 24, 2023, 01:57:23 AMI don't know the context of the quote, but surely Handel composed all his Italian operas in England and, far from quickly laying down the operatic robe, he wore it until it was threadbare, or at least until fashions had changed (and after he had composed 40-odd operas).
The quote is from Paul Henry Lang in his definitive biography of GFH. Handel wrote several secular cantatas, 72 for solo voice with basso continuo and twenty-eight with orchestral accompaniment, that are really small operas which featured duets and trios. He also wrote oratorios and 'festas' some of which were staged. These works solidified his bonafides but it was his opera Agrippina which put him over the top. Prince Ernest of Hanover, who was in Italy to find among other things a replacement for his court musician Agostino Staffani, a famous composer himself was so taken with it that he engaged Handel above the other capable and more established Italian composers to replace Steffani. It was the robe he could have worn...in Italy...but he left, so no robe...in Italy. He put another robe on...in England.