Handel meets Streisand

Synopsis

It’s quite likely that if we could ask him, great 18th century composer George Frideric Handel would have described himself first and foremost as a composer of Italian operas.

For most of the 19th century, however, it was chiefly Handel’s English-language sacred oratorios that kept his fame alive. It wasn’t until the 20th century that curiosity about Handel’s Italian operas led to revivals, recordings and their eventual return to the repertory of opera companies worldwide.

On today’s date in 1711, Handel’s opera Rinaldo had its premiere performance in London at the Queen’s Theater in the Haymarket. This was the first Handel opera produced in London, and the first Italian opera written specifically for that city. It was designed to be a spectacle, full of heroic chivalry and stage magic including live birds and flying machines, a kind of 18th century Star Wars, if you will.

It was a tremendous success, and, like Star Wars, was so popular that it became fit material for parody.

Handel’s Act III march of Christian Crusaders resurfaced as a chorus of highway robbers in John Gay’s Beggar’s Opera of 1728, a spoof poking fun at both contemporary politics and the conventions and pretensions of Italian-style opera.

Music Played in Today's Program

George Frederic Handel (1685-1759): Lascia Ch’io Pianga from Rinaldo; Barbra Streisand, soprano; Columbia Symphony; Claus Ogerman, conductor; CBS/Sony 33452

John Gay (1685-1732): The Beggar’s Opera; The Broadside Band; Jeremy Barlow, conductor; Hyperion 66591

On This Day

Births

• 1766 - English composer and organist Samuel Wesley, in Bristol England. He was the nephew of John Wesley (1703-1791), the founder of the Methodist Church.

• 1842 - Italian opera composer and librettist Arrigo Boito, in Paudua

• 1846 - Italian song composer Luigi Denza, in Castellammare. His most famous song is Funiculi, Finicula.

Deaths

• 1704 - French composer Marc-Antoine Charpentier, 78, in Paris

• 1929 - French composer André Messager, 75, in Paris

Premieres

• 1607 - Monteverdi: opera Orfeo, at the Palazzo Ducale in Mantua

• 1711 - Handel: opera, Rinaldo, in London at the Queen’s Theater in the Haymarket (Gregorian date: Mar. 7). This was the first Handel opera produced in London, and the first Italian opera written specifically composed for the London stage.

• 1725 - Handel: opera Rodelinda, in London (Julian date: Feb. 13)

• 1730 - Handel: opera Partenope, in London at the King’s Theater in the Haymarket (Gregorian date: Mar. 7)

• 1745 - Rameau: comedy-ballet La Princesse de Navarre (to a text by Voltaire, for the wedding of the Dauphin with Maria Teresa of Spain), at Versailles

• 1876 - Grieg: incidental music for Ibsen’s play Peer Gynt, as part of a staged production in Christiania (Oslo), Norway

• 1935 - Miaskovsky: Symphony No. 14, in Moscow

• 1939 - Roy Harris: Symphony No. 3, by the Boston Symphony, Koussevitzky conducting

• 1955 - Carlisle Floyd: opera Susannah at Florida State University in Tallahassee; According to Opera America, this is one of the most frequently-produced American operas during the past decade

• 1956 - Piston: Symphony No. 5, in New York City

• 1976 - Bernstein: musical 1700 Pennsylvania Avenue, in Philadelphia as a trial run at the Forrest Theater, conducted by Roland Gagnon. The show opened in New York City at the Mark Hellinger Theater in New York City on May 4, 1976, also conducted by Gagnon.

• 1979 - Berg: opera Lulu (first staging of complete version as arr. by Friedrich Cerha), at the Paris Opéra, with Pierre Boulez conducting

• 1985 - Andrew Lloyd-Webber: Requiem, in New York City at St. Thomas Episcopal Church; The London premiere occurred on April 21, 1984, in Westminster Abbey. The soloists in both cases were soprano Sarah Brightman and tenor Placido Domingo, with Lorin Maazel conducting.

• 2000 - Joan Tower: The Last Dance, at Carnegie Hall, by the Orchestra of St. Luke’s

Others

• 1727 - Handel applies for British citizenship (Julian date: Feb. 13)

• 1894 - First documented American performance of Handel’s Concerto Grosso No. 10, by the Boston Symphony, Emil Paur conducting