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A century after the first works known as ‘operas� had taken their first steps on the stages of Italy and France, this style of dramatic work set to music had spread and was being written and performed in theatres, newly formed opera houses, and in the palace theatres of the aristocracy across Europe. The genre had reformed, shaped itself, written rules, broken them, and now matured into something of a standard formula which would influence the next 100 or so years of operatic composition. This guide will explore the development of baroque opera in the eighteenth century, the influence of George Frederic Handel, and the popular styles and conventions favored during this period.

Terminology

• Aria: A long accompanied song for a solo voice.
• Castrati: Male singers who retained their treble voices through a process of early castration.
• Colloratura: Elaborate ornamentation of a vocal melody.
• Commedia dell'arte: A form of popular theatre emerged in Italy during the fifteenth century. It is characterized by improvised dialogue and a cast of colorful stock characters.
• Da Capo: “From the headâ€�; an aria in which the first part is repeated, the singer being expected to add ornamentation in the repeated section.
• Opera Seria: A style of opera developed in Italy on a serious (usually classical or mythological) theme.
• Oratorio: A large-scale, usually narrative musical work for orchestra and voices, typically on a sacred theme, performed without costume, scenery, or action.
• Parody: An imitation of the style of a particular writer, artist, or genre with deliberate exaggeration for comic effect.
• Pasticcio: A collection of arias and ensembles composed by many different composers to tell a story.
• Prima Donna: The “first ladyâ€� or leading lady in an opera.
• Recitative: An operatic conversation or musical dialogue. In many operas, the recitative is where the story happens.
• Tragedie-lyrique: A genre of French opera of the 17th and 18th centuries which makes use of tragic mythological or epic subjects.

Key Dates & Events

• 1703 - G. F. Handel saw his first opera. He was actually in the orchestra, playing the violin in the Gänsemarkt theatre in Hamburg.
• 1705 - Handel’s first opera Almira was performed.
• 1705 - Arsinoe, Queen of Cyprus the first completely English opera was first performed at the Drury Lane Theatre, London.
• 1705 - The Queen’s Theatre at Haymarket opened.
• 1706 - Handel moved to Italy, where he continued his study and training in opera and composed many sacred and secular works.
• 1708 - Castrato Nicolini made his debut in London in Scarlatti’s Pirro e Demetrio.
• 1709 - Handel’s first real operatic success, Agrippina had a run of 27 performances in Venice.
• 1710 - Handel moves to London, after gaining an appointment to work for Prince George of Hanover, who would later become King George I.
• 1710 - Handel’s Rinaldo premiered.
• 1712 - Handel settles in England permanently.
• 1719 - Handel was engaged to work for the Royal Academy of Music.
• 1720 - Castrato Farinelli made his debut in Porpora’s Andelica e Medoro in Naples.
• 1724 - 1725 - Handel’s operas Giulio Cesare, Tamerlano, and Rodelina premiered.
• 1728 - John Gay’s The Beggar’s Opera premiered and had 62 performances, the longest known run of any show in theatre at the time.
• 1729 - Handel’s Partenope and Orlando were written.
• 1731 - The ballad-opera The Devil to Pay had its premiere at Drury Lane Theatre, and was engaged for a tour which took it to Dublin, Edinburgh, Charleston, New York, Annapolis, Philadelphia, Kingston, Jamaica, and Cape Town, as well as across France and Germany. The German translation is credited for being the earliest example of the singspiel form.
• 1733 - Handel was engaged by the Earl of Essex to write for the Covent Garden Theatre, the first opera to appear in Covent Garden.
• 1733 - Rameau’s first work for the stage, Hippolyte et Aricie, was produced.
• 1733 - Pergolesi’s La serva padrona, possibly the first true opera buffa, was produced.
• 1735 - Handel’s Ariodante was a dramatic success but a financial failure.
• 1735 - Vivaldi’s pasticcio opera Bajazet was performed.
• 1735 - Rameau’s Les Indes galantes was first performed at the Opera, Paris.
• 1741 - Handel’s last opera Deiademia was premiered. Audience interest in Italian opera had waned and his oratorio works were becoming far more successful.
• 1742 - Handel’s Messiah had its first performance.
• 1742 - Hasse’s opera Lucio Papirio premiered at the Hoftheatre, Dresden, which became a centre for the Italian opera seria tradition after popularity in London waned.
• 1743 - Gluck had his first success with Demofoonte in Milan. Gluck’s style rejected the virtuosic compositional style and preferred to look back to the more recitative format of the early baroque which, ironically, heralded the changes of the following classical period with its desire for simplicity.
• 1744 - Handel shocked audiences by performing his secular oratorio Semele during Lent.
• 1759 - Handel died in London and was buried at Westminster Abbey.