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Essay on George Frederic Handel
George Frideric Handel was born in February 23, 1685. He was a naturalized English composer of German birth. Studied with Zachau, organist of the Liebfrauenkirche in Halle; in 1697 he became assistant organist, and in 1702, first organist. In 1703 he joined the Hamburg opera, first as violinist, later as harpsichordist, where he worked under Keiser, whose hybrid German/Italian style provided the model for his own early operas, including Almira (1705). In 1706 Handel began a lengthy study visit to Italy, taking in most major music cities. His opera Vincer se stesso è la maggior vittoria was given in Florence in 1707: little of the score survives, but the work clearly drew on Almira and seems to have made little impact.
A visit to Naples in 1708 saw the production of the serenata Aci , Galatea e Polifemo , while during a stay in Venice in the winter of 1709–10 he produced Agrippina , the crowning success of his Italian years and earliest real evidence of his operatic talent. His apprenticeship over, Handel left Italy in Feb. 1710 and found employment with the Elector of Hanover, who readily granted him an immediate year's leave of absence to visit England. By late 1710 he had arrived in London, where he already had influential friends. Anxious to make an impact, Handel composed Rinaldo at great speed and with it gave new impetus to the cultivation of Italian opera in England. In 1712 he again took a leave of absence, on condition that he returns within a reasonable time: he was reluctant to do so and suffered considerable embarrassment when the Elector succeeded soon afterwards to the English throne as King George I. (CATALANO, PETER)
Shortly after he reached London, Handel's new opera Il pastor fido was performed in the Haymarket.....
