AO.J THE SOPRANO ROLE IN HANDEL'S OPERAS THESIS Presented to the Graduate Council of the North Texas State College in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements For the Degree of MASTER OF MUSIC by Ida Elizabeth Weir, B. S. E. Little Rock, Arkansas January, 195+ PREFACE The purpose of this study is to give some insight into the soprano role in Hgndel's operas in comparison to the other roles. Although Handel has won wide acclaim due to his oratorios, little recognition has been given to him today through his operas. From a total of forty operas written, thirty-eight have been published and will be considered in this thesis. There is a complete analysis of each soprano role, but only a few outstanding arias are discussed in detail. The study of the soprano role is preceded by a chapter on Handel's career, styles,and his operas today. At the close of Chapter II there are: a list of the operas in chronological order (Appendix I); a list of the operas in alphabetical order (Appendix II); a list of the soprano arias, recitatives and duets in alphabetical order according to each opera with corresponding role, range, volume and page number in the Chrysander Edition (HCE) (Appendix III), and a list of soprano arias, duets and recitatives in alphabetical order with corresponding opera and location (Appendix IV). A bib- liography of the available literature in books and music will be found at the end. iii TABLE OF CONTENTS Page PREFACE . * . * . i1i Chapter I. HANDEL AS AN OPERA COMPOSER. 1 Handel's Career Techniques and Styles His Operas Today II. THE OPERAS... ... .*. .. 20 APPENDIX I. OPERAS IN CHRONOLOGICAL ORDER. 87 II. OPERAS I ALPHABETICAL ORDER . 88 III. SOPRANO ARIAS, DUETS AND RECITATIVES IN ALPHABETICAL ORDER ACCORDING TO EACH OPERA WITH CORRESPOTTDI T G ROLE, RANGE, VOLUME AND PAGE VTMBER. * . 89 IV. SOPRANO ARIAS, DUETS AND RECITATIVES IN ALPHABETICAL ORDER WITH CORRESPODITG OPERA AND LCCATION. ... 125 BIBLIOGRAPHY. 142 iv CHAPTER I HANDEL AS AN OPERA COMPOSER Handel's Career In 1703 Handel began his operatic career at the age of eighteen in Hamburg. He obtained the position as second violinist in the opera orchestra in the Gansemarkt Opera House. At this time Reinhard Keiser's' German opera, Claudius (1703), became the first work sung in the Ganse- markt to include numbers in Italian. Keiser composed almost one hundred and twenty operas,2 only a few of them to wholly German texts. Most of his works were partly or entirely Italian in both text and musical style. More important to Handel than Keiser, though by no means a musician of Keiser's genius, was the Gansemarkt's leading tenor, Johann Mattheson. At the age of nine years (1690) he became an opera chorister and six years later a soloist. He heard Die Pleyaden (1699), his own first opera, sung in 1 Keiser (1674-1739) was then at the height of his operatic career (1694-1739). He was the first German to employ popular subjects in opera. (Bakers Biographical Dictionary of Musicians, "Handel"). 20nly twenty-two of these operas have been preserved. (R. A. Streatfield, The Opera, p. 13). 1 2 Hamburg at the age of eighteen.3 But the operatic section of his very long career was brief. In 1728 he became deaf, con- sequently he turned to writing about music. The friendship that existed between Handel and Matthesm proved to be valuable because it probably helped Handel to obtain the position as second violinist in the orchestra of the Gansemarkt. In the spring of 1704, Keiser began to write an opera te a text by a poet named Friedrich Christian Feustking. The libretto was partially translated into German from an Italian original and partially left in Italian. Something distracted Keiser's attention after he began to work, and he conse- quently invited Handel to collaborate with him in the opera. Then he gave up his part altogether, and Handel decided to set the text by himself. Thus he came to the composition of Almira, the first of his forty operas.6 He seems to have 3 Abdy Williams, Handel, p. 19. 4Herbert Weinstock, Handel, p. 21. 5The libretto contained fifteen Italian airs, and forty-four German songs. (W. S. Rockstro, The Life of George Frederich Handel, p. 39). 6 According to Charles Burney, A General History of Music, II, Newman Flower, George Frederic Handel, and Her- bert Weinstock, Handel, Handel composed forty operas. Hugo Leichtentritt, "Handel," The International Cyclopedia of Music,and Edward J. Dent, Handel, claim that Handel wrote forty-six operas which include the following six added dramas: Silla (1712), Parnasso in testo (1734), Terpsi- chore, a ballet, with the second version of Il Pastor Fido (1734), Oreste (1734), Alessandro Severo (1737), and Jupiter in Arg os(1739). 3 worked on it all during the latter half of 1704, while continuing his labors in the opera house orchestra and his tutoring. On January 1, 1705, Handel's Almira was sung at the Gansemarkt Opera House. Its audience, not distrubed at all by the ridiculous story propounded partly in German and partly in Italian, gave every sign of approval. Keiser seemed very jealous of Handel, because Almira was assured of success. Rivalry existed between them, but Handel was not too perturbed for he was selected to write two new operas, Nero in 1705, and Floririda and Dafne in 1706.7 These were to be presented in Hamburg, but before the second one was performed he left the city. He had made the acquaintance of an Italian Medici prince who invited him to travel with him to Italy.8 This Italian prince, Gaston de' Medici, ultimately proved to be responsible for one of the most decisive developments in Handel's life. He told Handel he felt sure that he would go far in the operatic field, described to him the glories of Italian music at Florence 7The libretto of Nero was put together entirely in German by Feustking. It contained seventy-five arias. The scores of both operas are lost. (W. S. Rockstro, The Life of George Frederic Handel, p. 40). 8 Hugo Leichtentritt, "Handel," The International Cyclopedia of Music and Musicians, edited by 0. Thompson. and Rome, and convinced him that he was wasting his time in Hamburg.9 During these years in Italy (1706-1709) he became acquainted with some of the leading Italian masters, Alessandro and Domenico Scarlatti, Corelli, Agostino Steffani and many others. His association with them helped him master the most advanced Italian style. As he studied their techniques, he accomplished the art of combining the best characteristics of the German and Italian methods. Later on he included some of the English and French methods. Because of his artistic ability which was portrayed by his development of these methods, he rivaled some of the greatest Italian masters. As he travelled in many of the large cities, Florence, Rome and Naples, he was declared a genius by the best critics of that day. The achievement of his success was in 1709, when the opera Agrippina was pro- duced in Venice.1 0 Newman Flower calls this opera "un- questionably the finest work he had produced in Italy or elsewhere, and it was incidentally the means of getting him back again to his native land." 1 1 After returning to Hanover, Handel was appointed court conductor, on the 9 Newman FlQwer, George Frederic Handel, p. 77. 1 0 Hupo Leichtentritt, "Handel," The International Cyclopedia of Music and Musicians, edited by 0. Thompson. 1 1 Flower, p_. cit. , p. 97. 5. recommendation of Agostino Steffani. He then was invited to produce a new opera in London. Rinaldo (1711), his first opera for the English capital, was so successful that a field of brilliant activities was opened to him there. Young Handel, who possessed, for an artist, unusual abilities for conducting business affairs, was not slow in perceiving the possi- bilities in London and he resolved to live permanently in England. Though he returned to Hanover for a short time, he hastened back to London where, in 1712 and 1713, his new operas, 11 Pastor Fido and Teseo brought him new triumphs. Handel never returned to Hanover. The decade 1720-1730 marks the acme of Handel's career as composer of Italian operas. No less then fifteen new Handel operas were given during these years, among them were masterworks like Radamisto (1720), Ottone (1723), Giulio Cesare (1724), Tamerlano (1724), Rodelinda (1725), Admeto (1727) and Tolomeo (1728). The Royal Academy of Music closed in 1728 owing to the lack of support of the public in London. The eyes of the public had turned toward ThBe Bgar's Oper., 1 2 a parody on 12The music consists of sixty-nine numbers adapted by Pepusch to popular airs (one of which is the March from Handel's Rinaldo 1711); Pepusch also arranged and orches- trated the score and composed one of the songs and the overture (which is founded on the air, "One Evening Having Lost My Way," occurring in the third act). (Alfred Lowenberg, Annals of Opera, p. 82). 6 Italian opera. The words are by John Gay and the music is partly composed and arranged by John Christopher Pepusch. The people were becoming tired of the Italian opera and the lightness of TheBeggar's a with the ballad tunes and clever satire attracted the attention of all the music lovers. The rivalry and jealousy of the famous prima donnas, Faustina Bordonil3 and Francesca Cuzzoni,14 and also the castrato, Senesino,1 5 created reign of unhappiness during these years, therefore the public looked toward the lighter veins in opera.16 After being closed for a year, the Royal Academy of Music was reorganized in December 1729 with a new company of Italipn singers.