Porpora and Handel Giuseppina Bridelli in London Le Concert de l’Hostel Dieu Duel Franck-Emmanuel Comte TRACKLIST P. 2 FRANÇAIS P. 11 ENGLISH P. 6 ITALIANO P. 16 TESTI / TEXTS / TEXTES P. 22 2 Menu DUEL PORPORA AND HANDEL IN LONDON George Frideric Handel (1685-1759) 01 Sta nell’ircana pietrosa tana 5’29 Alcina HWV 34 – London, CG, 16 April 1735 – Aria: Ruggiero Nicola Porpora (1686-1768) 02 Nume che reggi ’l mare 7’13 Arianna in Naxo – London, LF, 29 December 1733 – Aria: Teseo 03 Dolce è su queste alte mie logge a sera 2’17 04 Fu del braccio onnipotente 5’57 David e Bersabea – London, LF, 12 March 1734– Recitativo e Aria: David Ouverture 05 Ouverture 1’26 06 Allegro 1’51 07 Without tempo indication 2’20 Polifemo – London, KT, 1 February 1735 08 A questa man verrà 4’12 Calcante e Achille – unknown location, possibly Austria or Northern Italy, 1737-1745 – Aria: Achille With music from Ifigenia in Aulide – London, KT, 3 May 1735 George Frideric Handel 09 Scherza infida 9’16 Ariodante HWV 33 – London, CG, 8 January 1735 – Aria: Ariodante With ornaments in the B Section and Da Capo from Mss. 138–9 (London, Royal Academy of Music) Nicola Porpora 10 Il gioir qualor s’aspetta 5’46 Polifemo – Aria: Calipso 3 Menu George Frideric Handel Suite de ballet 11 Entrée des Songes agréables (Largo e piano) 1’25 12 Entrée des Songes funestes 1’51 13 Entrée des Songes agréables effrayés 0’41 14 Le combat des Songes funestes et agréables 1’30 Ariodante HWV 33 – Act II Nicola Porpora 15 Alza al soglio i guardi 4’13 Mitridate – London, KT, 24 January 1736 – Aria: Mitridate George Frideric Handel 16 Inumano fratel, barbara madre 1’49 17 Stille amare, già vi sento 4’15 Tolomeo HWV 25 – London, KT, 30 April 1728 – Recitativo e Aria: Tolomeo 18 Quando piomba improvvisa saetta 4’11 Catone in Utica HWV A7 – London, KT, 4 November 1732 From Nicola Porpora, Poro – Turin, Regio, 1731, Carnival Season – Aria: Arbace Total time 65’50 Places and dates refer to the first production CG = Covent Garden KT = King’s Theatre, Haymarket LF = Lincoln’s Inn Fields Music advisor: Stefano Aresi 4 mezzo-soprano Giuseppina Bridelli Le Concert de l’Hostel Dieu harpsichord Franck-Emmanuel Comte and conducting violin I Reynier Guerrero (violin solo) Anonymous, German school, mid-18th century Gabriel Ferry Joseph Nicolas, Mirecourt c. 1770 Paul Monteiro Giovanni Battista Gabrielli, Florence 1770 violin II Sayaka Shinoda Filip Kuijken, Warime (Japan) 2006 (original model) André Costa Marcelo Vianna Cruz, Belo Horizonte (Brazil) 2011 (aft er Giovanni Battista Guadagnini, Milan 1751) Minori Deguchi Paul Collins, Chadenac (France) 2015 (aft er Nicola Amati, Cremona 1666) viola Myriam Cambreling Nicolas Harmand, Mirecourt (France) mid-18th century Aurélie Métivier Léopold Renaudin, Paris 1778 violoncello Aude Walker-Viry Joseph Charotte, Mirecourt (France) c. 1820 double bass Nicolas Janot Anonymous, France, 19th century theorbo and guitar Nicolas Muzy Maurice Ottiger, Les Pacots (Suisse) 1994 ; Carlos Gonzales, Almeria (Spain) oboe Elisabeth Passot Marcel Ponseele, Damme (Belgique) 2006 (aft er Thomas Stanesby junior, London c. 1730) Jon Olaberria Pau Oriols, Vilanova y la Geltrù (Spain) 2016 (aft er Thomas Stanesby junior, London c. 1730) bassoon Pierre Bats Olivier Cottet, Boutigny Prouais (France) 2004 (aft er Charles Bizey, Paris c. 1730) Florian Gazagne Olivier Cottet, Boutigny Prouais (France) 2010 (aft er Johann Heinrich Eichentopf, Leipzig, early 18th century) horn Serge Desautels Patrick Fraize, Vasselay (France) 2016 (aft er Johann Heinrich Eichentopf, Leipzig, early 18th century) Eric Villevière Andreas Jungwirth 1995 (aft er Friedrich Ehe, Nuremberg 1720) harpsichord Franck-Emmanuel Comte Dominique Laperle, Annecy (France) 1995 (Flemish style, early 18th century) Recorded 27-30 June 2018 at the Temple Lanterne in Lyon, France Producer: Fabio Framba Sound engineer and editing: Fabio Framba Coproduced by Le Concert de l’Host el Dieu and Outhere Music France ℗2019 / ©2019 Outhere Music France 5 Giuseppina Bridelli 6 Menu THE TASTE WAR: TWO COMPOSERS AND LONDON The rivalry between Handel and Porpora in from the effectively heated climate of opinion London would appear to have been one of the prevailing in England between 1733 and 1737, most heated feuds in the history of 18th century when the two composers were working there. music, a subject that critics and admirers of the So it certainly makes sense to explain the set- whole dramma per musica repertoire found par- ting in which the purported challenge took place. ticularly fascinating. So it’s almost a pity that this Until 29 December 1733, with the first perfor- contest, strife, dispute between giants never ac- mance of Arianna in Naxo at Lincoln’s Inn Fields, tually took place in the terms that are commonly opera audiences in London had never heard an reported. Granted, rivalry existed within musi- entire original work by Porpora. That said, how- cal circles at the time, but this had more to do ever, just as his fame in Venice was beginning to with individual singers, aesthetic concepts and grow, his name had appeared in association with the patrons of the two different opera compa- a new production, Elisa, staged at the Haymarket nies in London, and often had little to do with in 1726. Nine arias by Porpora, slightly modified, music as such. There was certainly no blazing were then included by Handel in four pastic- personal row between the two composers, and cios between 1730 and 1732: Ormisda (1730), though both were relatively hot-tempered, nei- Venceslao (1731), Lucio Papirio dittatore (1732) ther appears to have considered the other an and Catone in Utica (1732). Depending on the enemy. Indeed, there is evidence to suggest case, these pieces were performed in England that the two artists actually admired each oth- as a choice of the singers who had already sung er’s work. Suffice it to recall that Porpora kept them on the continent or, sometimes (as in the a copy of Handel’s Tolomeo re d’Egitto made case of Quando piomba improvvisa saetta, from in the very years in which this curious “rivalry” Porpora’s Poro – track 18) because Handel him- was in full swing (see Stille amare, track 17). By self wanted them into the scores. the same token, Handel greeted the publica- Handel exercised an absolute monopoly over tion of Porpora’s Cantate op. I in 1735 with en- opera in London, and Propora’s arrival in the city thusiasm, as Giuseppe Sigismondo (1739-1826) to head the Opera of Nobility regarded both art points out in his Apoteosi della musica del Regno and politics. Although London audiences con- di Napoli, an essential source for the history of sisted of little more than a thousand or so peo- Italian music. ple, these came from the most important social The huge misunderstanding regarding the strata, who were becoming increasingly aware whole question of “rivalry” probably derives that the musical style and dramaturgy then in 7 English fashion in Europe did not coincide with what the Broschi Farinelli. The sets were to be designed company directed by Handel had been staging by artists of the calibre of Jacopo Amigoni, and for many years. Opera houses on the continent to cap it all, the composer they had in mind was hosted works based on extremely modern li- Porpora, internationally acclaimed as one of the brettos, often written by Metastasio, the fore- most solid points of reference with regard to most Italian poet of the century. Moreover, the musical quality and innovation. Indeed, Porpora composers connected with the best Neapolitan was not only one of the foremost representa- avant-garde circles had embraced a style that tives of the heroic style connected with Pietro could accommodate both the liveliest dramat- Metastasio’s librettos, but also an undisputed ic requirements and constantly evolving vocal master of recitative and a great connoisseur of tastes introduced by a new generation of sing- the human voice. ers. Just imagine the impact of an aria such as All sorts of things happened during the course Nume che reggi ’l mare on an audience accus- of those difficult years in London, where there tomed to the use of orchestral accompaniment were two opera companies that vied with each and voice à la Handel, which was considerably other: duels fought to their lethal conclusion less galant than the Italian standard of the time during performances, violent financial crises, (track 2). Although the situation in London was and evenings when Farinelli sang for an almost not entirely impermeable to all of this, it was nev- empty house. Yet most of this had little to do ertheless distinctly static and dominated by the with the individual choices of the two compos- conflict between the Tory and the Whig political ers involved, their main focus being the need to perspectives, some ill-concealed anti-German stage their creations by coordinating the instru- sentiments, and a general discontent caused by mentalists and the singers. Handel and Porpora price increases for the audiences who attended were certainly facing a challenge, but not among Handel’s works. Moreover, the poet Paolo Rolli themselves. The aim of both of them was to at- and the singer Senesino were scheming in favour tract audiences. Encouraged by his close col- of a new company that was overtly opposed to laboration with Rolli, Porpora was more inclined the existing one. A group of aristocrats within to experiment, achieving greater formal freedom the sphere of Frederik, Prince of Wales, were and an appealing take on local theatrical usage. bent on creating new productions, calling in the Handel, for his part, soon had to resort to hiring best musicians then available in Europe.