# Handel opera - where to start?



## Meyerbeer Smith (Mar 25, 2016)

Which half-dozen Handel operas are the "must listens", either for artistic quality or historical importance?

_Giulio Cesare_, obviously, and the Met's done _Rodelinda_ in HD.

Websites suggest _Serse, Orlando, Rinaldo, Agrippina, Ariodante, Alcina_ and _Tamerlano_. Kaminski's _1001 operas_ lists 20 (!) he thinks should be done every year.

Many of the arias I've heard are wonderful, but the couple of Handel productions I've seen (a DVD of the 1984 Janet Baker _Julius Caesar_, a staged _Jephthah_) didn't convince me.


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## mountmccabe (May 1, 2013)

Looking at the 2015 and 2010 talk.classical recommended opera lists the consensus seems to be similar to the ones you list.

I have quite enjoyed performances of Alcina and Agrippina, and Giulio Cesare via DVD and audio (I really enjoy the Glyndebourne production).

I certainly have to be in the mood for a full Handel opera (or oratorio), or at least well-primed for it. As the dramatic and musical styles are so different from what followed that they can appear strange. This also has, in recent years, attracted more free directorial approaches. This has produced some fantastic results... as long as you're open to that.


The 2015 TC top 200 recommended operas included 5 by Handel:
42. Giulio Cesare
123. Alcina
158. Ariodante
171. Rodelinda
188. Rinaldo

The following also had nominations: Acis and Galatea, Deidamia, Faramondo, Hercules, Orlando, Radamisto, Serse, and Tamerlano

The 2010 version had more, and they were generally ranked higher:
4. Giulio Cesare
40. Ariodante
56. Alcina
100. Orlando
104. Hercules
111. Rinaldo
117. Theodora
122. Serse
149. Acis and Galatea
152. Tamerlano
155. Agrippina
170. Rodelinda
173. Admeto
178. Semele
225. Partenope


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## Josquin13 (Nov 7, 2017)

A composer friend of mine considered Tamerlano to be the greatest opera ever composed! Now that's high praise: 



. However, personally, my favorite Handel opera is Alcina--though I especially like Ariodante, Serse, and Orlando too.










I also find riches in Handel operas that are more off the beaten path, such as Teseo and Amadigi di Gaula:

Teseo:










Amadigi di Gaula:


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## Meyerbeer Smith (Mar 25, 2016)

Thanks, guys!

I'll be listening to Handel off the back of a lot of 17th century French baroque opera - Lully, Charpentier, Campra, Desmarets, Marais, &c. Handel might sound surprisingly modern! (My project for the next year or so is to listen to the "high points" of opera, in chronological order, from Monteverdi on.)

My ears have already adjusted to Lully. I found him dull, when sandwiched between, say, Verdi and Strauss. He makes sense as an Italian (post-Monteverdian) composer for Paris. His operas are certainly an acquired taste, though: recitative over strings, with a prologue honouring Louis XIV ("le plus puissant des Rois", "plus grand Roi du monde", "le plus grand roy de l'univers") mixed with dance and choruses, and 17th century special effects (which you can't see on CD). Onto my fifth (!) in a row: _Bellérophon_, which has a terrific aria/chorus of wizards, and some really beautiful duets.

Greg Sandow has an interesting article suggesting that our respectful attitude to Handel is a long way from what happened in the 18th century - and that Handel "shows" should be extravagant to the max. Bringing back castrati might be too much for even the most obsessive HIP enthusiast, though!


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