Currently, I am alternating reading a
book by Jane Glover on “Handel in London” with listening
to Handel's London operas (at the moment, it is Giulio Cesare
with Marc Minkowski directing and Magdalena Kozena and Anne Sofie von
Otter in the cast). Current fashion places Bach, Mozart and Beethoven
on the triumvirate pedestal. Mozart and Beethoven (and probably Bach,
also) had an extremely high regard for Handel, with good reason;
Handel was an instinctive genius composer. His first London opera,
Rinaldo (highest quality) was composed from scratch in two
weeks, a few days after his arrival in England. It is next on my
listening list. Top-class music poured out of Handel, as it poured
out of Mozart and Schubert.
Unfortunately for us (and perhaps for
his ultimate popularity) Handel wrote mainly just large vocal and
choral works — around 42 operas, 120 cantatas, and 29 oratorios.
Unlike Bach, Mozart and Beethoven, he wrote comparatively little in
the way of significant instrumental or chamber music and he has no equivalent of
Mozart's “Haydn” string quartets, or Bach's Goldberg Variations
to ensure his continuing exposure in recital and concert halls. No
great matter; in his chosen repertoire, he was king, and I shall
never, ever grow tired of listening to Handel's music.
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