List of operas by Handel

The opera house in the Haymarket—first known as the Queen's Theatre and then later as the King's Theatre—where many of Handel's works were first performed. Illustration by William Capon.

George Frideric Handel's operas comprise 42 musical dramas that were written between 1705 and 1741 in various genres. He began composing operas in Germany and then for a brief time in Italy to modest success. It was not until he moved to England that he found great success in the genre. His first opera in England, Rinaldo (1711), was met with enthusiasm, and several more Italian operas soon followed. However, Handel's place as the central figure of opera in England during the eighteenth century was not solidified until, under the influence of Thomas Arne, he began composing large-scale works with English language texts. Though almost all his English language works are technically oratorios and not operas, several of them, such as Semele (1743), have become an important part of the opera repertoire. Handel's first opera (opera seria - serious Italian opera) was Almira (1705).

During the 36 years in which Italian opera was his principal concern, Handel adhered closely to the typical form of the era, determined by the precedence given to solo singing and to stage presentation in which set changes were made in front of the audience and the curtain not lowered until the work's conclusion. Recitatives preceded solo arias, usually in da capo form (though frequently with an abridged return to the chief section), dominate the operas, and scenes are normally devised to start with several characters on stage, each of whom sings an aria and then exits. The last scene typically concludes with a coro sung by the soloists; ensembles are otherwise atypical and mainly limited to scenes of communal celebration; only "Dall’orror" in Act 3 of Alcina (1735) reaches the depth of the choruses in the English choral works. Handel’s operas therefore seem to be highly similar to those of his contemporaries; what makes them unique is the brilliance of the music which skilfully conveys with instant fervor the emotional states of the characters within the context of the drama.

Overview

First edition of Handel's Giulio Cesare (1724)

Handel's earlier operas tended to be of a lighter nature, although there are intermittent moments, such as the prison scene from Almira (1705), which are highly dramatic. Handel's music for his first operas in England was often derived from musical ideas and idioms found in his cantatas and other works written during his time spent in Italy (1706–09). For example, the characteristic harmonic structure of Agrippina (1709) is obviously a retention of material from this Italian period. In general, the orchestrations of Handel's earlier operas tended to be richer and smoother than in his later works, utilizing additional instruments like bassoons to achieve different tone colours. The music for Rinaldo (1711) notably used four trumpets, an instrumental choice that Handel never repeated elsewhere.

Ludovico Ariosto (1474-1533) whose epic poem Orlando Furioso was the source for Handel's operas Orlando, Alcina, and Ariodante.

Beginning with Ottone (1722), Handel composed numerous operas for the Royal Academy of Music during the 1720s. With the exception of Flavio (1723), the operas from this period are more serious in tone and the musical expression is more astutely aligned to the opera's drama than in his earlier operas. Of particular importance from this period is Giulio Cesare (1724), which contains one of Handel's most expansive and emotively powerful scores. The sumptuous music and deft characterizations found in this work has made it one of the more frequently revived Handel operas during the 20th and 21st centuries. Also of note are Tamerlano (1724) and Rodelinda (1725) which have particularly striking leading tenor roles that Handel wrote specifically for Francesco Borosini. The later operas that Handel wrote for the Academy were not as successful as his earlier ones. The two major sopranos at the Academy, Francesca Cuzzoni and Faustina Bordoni, were intensely competitive, and Handel had to cater to them both equally in these latter Academy operas. With the exception of Admeto (1727), the attempt at balancing two leading soprano roles within an individual opera proved to hinder the work both musically and dramatically.

During the 1730s, Handel returned to writing operas of a comic and fantastic or heroic nature, largely because he no longer had to cater to the tastes of the Academy when choosing librettos. These works, such as Partenope (1730), Orlando (1733) and Alcina (1735), were influenced by the operas of Leonardo Vinci and Leonardo Leo and are written in a pre-classical manner. During this period, Handel began to more frequently utilize the scena in his works, and by the mid-1730s he was writing some of his most dramatically moving arias, such as the mad scene of Orlando and the end of Act 2 of Alcina. The size of the orchestras for these works was also larger, with Handel typically employing 12 violins, 8 violas, 6 cellos, 4 double basses, and two harpsichords in addition to four bassoons and a number of other wind instruments. In operas like Oreste (1734), Handel attempted to synthesize Italian opera with French opera in the sequences of dances and choruses, but made no further experimentation in this area outside of the operas of 1734 and 1735. Two of the operas from this period, Ariodante (1735) and Atalanta (1736), were a departure from the traditionally heroic librettos used by Handel, adopting a more realistic romantic intimacy.

By the late 1730s, Handel's attention was increasingly diverted away from composing operas and was much more focused on the English oratorio. A number of his operas from 1737 on lack the brilliance of his earlier works, most likely due to this shift in focus. Nevertheless, his operas Giustino (1737) and Serse (1738) contain some very fine music. Serse is also notable for successfully mixing comedy and poignant tragedy into a masterfully crafted plot, a development repeated less successfully in Imeneo (1740). Handel's last Italian opera, Deidamia, was produced in 1741 and was not received very well as England's taste for Italian opera had waned. Handel returned one more time to theatre music for the semi-opera Alceste in 1750.

List of works

The following is a complete list of Handel's operatic works. All are opera seria in three acts, unless otherwise stated.

See also

• Handel House Museum at 25 Brook Street and BBC Radio 3 worked in partnership to celebrate Handel's life and music in 2009, with BBC Radio 3 broadcasting the complete 42 operas, 8 January – 25 July 2009
• List of compositions by George Frideric Handel
• Handel Reference Database

References

• Hicks, Anthony (1992), 'Handel, George Frideric' in The New Grove Dictionary of Opera, ed. Stanley Sadie (London) ISBN 0-333-73432-7
• Warrack, John and West, Ewan (1992), The Oxford Dictionary of Opera, 782 pages, ISBN 0-19-869164-5
• Some of the information in this article is taken from the related Dutch Wikipedia article.

External links

• Handel House - Listing of operas with pages on each one.

George Frideric Handel
Operas	Handel's lost Hamburg operas Almira Florindo Rodrigo Agrippina Rinaldo Il pastor fido Teseo Silla Amadigi di Gaula Radamisto Muzio Scevola Floridante Ottone Flavio Giulio Cesare Tamerlano Rodelinda Scipione Alessandro Admeto Riccardo Primo Siroe Tolomeo Lotario Partenope Poro Ezio Sosarme Orlando Arianna in Creta Parnasso in festa Oreste Ariodante Alcina Atalanta Arminio Giustino Berenice Faramondo Alessandro Severo Serse Giove in Argo Imeneo Deidamia Acis and Galatea
Opera excerpts	"Lascia ch'io pianga" "Ombra mai fu" "Svegliatevi nel core" "Va tacito e nascosto"
Incidental music	The Alchemist Alceste
Oratorios	Il trionfo del Tempo e del Disinganno / Il trionfo del Tempo e della Verità / The Triumph of Time and Truth La resurrezione Brockes Passion Esther Deborah Athalia Saul Israel in Egypt L'Allegro, il Penseroso ed il Moderato Messiah Structure Part I Part II Part III Samson Semele Joseph and his Brethren Hercules Belshazzar Occasional Oratorio Judas Maccabaeus Joshua Alexander Balus Susanna Solomon Theodora The Choice of Hercules Jephtha
Odes and masques	Aci, Galatea e Polifemo Acis and Galatea Ode for the Birthday of Queen Anne Alexander's Feast Ode For St. Cecilia's Day
Cantatas	Agrippina condotta a morire or Dunque sarà pur vero Allor ch'io dissi addio Aure soavi e lieti Clori, Tirsi e Fileno Dalla guerra amorosa Del bell'idolo mio Apollo e Dafne O lucenti, o sereni occhi Ero e Leandro Tra le fiamme (Il consiglio) Un' alma innamorata
Latin church music	Dixit Dominus Gloria Nisi Dominus Salve Regina
Anthems	As Pants the Hart Zadok the Priest The Ways of Zion Do Mourn / Funeral Anthem for Queen Caroline Sing Unto God/Anthem for the Wedding of Frederick, Prince of Wales Chandos Anthem No.1 /Jubilate in D Major "O, be joyful in the Lord" Wedding anthem for Princess Anne
Canticles	Utrecht Te Deum and Jubilate Dettingen Te Deum Queen Caroline Te Deum
Oboe	Oboe Concerto No. 3 Oboe Concerto No. 1 Oboe Concerto No. 2
Works	Water Music Music for the Royal Fireworks
Flute, solo and XV solo sonatas	358 "Fitzwilliam" 359a 359b 360 361 362 363a 363b 364a 364b 365 366 367a 367b 368 369 370 371 372
Opus	Organ concertos, Op. 4 Organ concertos, Op. 7 Concerti Grossi, Op. 3 Concerti grossi, Op. 6
Other	Nabal Gideon Keyboard suite in D minor (HWV 437)
Catalogs and collections	Handel Reference Database Händel-Werke-Verzeichnis Händel-Gesellschaft Hallische Händel-Ausgabe
Festivals	Göttingen Halle London
Related articles	Operas Compositions Letters and writings Will Handel at Cannons Handel House Museum Georg Händel
Category:George Frideric Handel