Biblioteca del Conservatorio di Musica di Vicenza “Arrigo Pedrollo”

Abstract: Handel completed his opera “Ottone” in August 1722, but the first performance did not take place until January 1723 in the Haymarket Theatre, London; the composer had waited so long for the famous soprano Francesca Cuzzoni who he had in mind for the role of Teofane. “Ottone” was an immediate success from the beginning, not only for its top-class cast but also because of its formal and musical structure. It received numerous revivals until 1733. Stylistically, “Ottone” follows in the Neapolitan opera tradition with emotionally charged arias as the principal vehicles of expression, whilst the plot is carried forward in the secco recitatives. The dramatic action is interpreted and intensified through the choice of arias and keys. The vocal score is based on volume II/12 of the “Halle Handel Edition” (BA 4077), which contains the complete critical musical text of the opera for the first time. First critical edition based on the Urtext of the Halle Handel Edition Additional numbers from later performances included in the appendix Foreword (Ger/Eng) EDITORIALE

Abstract: “Almira”, Handel’s first opera, was well received when premiered in 1705 at the Theater am Gänsemarkt in Hamburg. The director was Reinhard Keiser, who, remarkably, had himself already set Friedrich Christian Feustking’s text to music. The role of Fernando was sung by Johann Mattheson. The translation used by Handel leaves several Italian arias in their original language, resulting in a delightful mixture of German and Italian. The opera which, after sundry entangled romances, ends in the wedding of three couples, is characterised by exuberant scenes: the procession at Almira’s crowning ceremony, a duel, a prison scene and a masked-ball involving the three continents Europe, Africa and Asia. The vocal score to “Almira” by George Frideric Handel brings about a small sensation: Whilst conducting a reenactment of this work in 1732, Georg Philipp Telemann removed the Aria no. 28 “Ingrato, spietato” from his conducting score. Since then this aria has been deemed lost. Due to necessity only the edited vocal text devoid of any music was presented in the 1994 volume of the “Halle Handel Edition”. Thanks to a recently discovered contemporary manuscript copy from the beginning of the 18th century which was found in the music library of the Mariengymnasium in Jever, this aria has now been made available to performers for the first time in this new vocal score edition. Previous to this the corresponding pages could only be seen as a facsimile in an article of the “Göttinger Händel-Beiträge”. Now the aria can be performed again. Furthermore, with the help of this new source, missing measures in the basso continuo which had initially been completed by the editor of the “Halle Handel Edition” volume, could be reconstructed from the basso continuo part of the Bellante aria “Ich brenne zwar” (no. 71). - Urtext edition based on the “Halle Handel Edition” - Original German and Italian text with a German translation of the Italian arias - Comprehensive foreword (Ger/Eng) - Clear, straightforward piano reduction EDITORIALE