List of operas by George Frideric Handel

The opera house in the Haymarket —first known as the Queen's Theatre and then later as the King's Theatre— where many of Handel's works were first performed. Illustration by William Capon.

George Frideric Handel's operas comprise 42 musical dramas that were written between 1705 and 1741 in various genres. He began composing operas in Germany and then for a brief time in Italy to modest success. It wasn't until he came to England that he truly found great success in the genre. His first opera in England, Rinaldo (1711), was met with enthusiasm and several more Italian operas soon followed. However, Handel's place as the central figure of opera in England during the eighteenth century was not truly solidified until, under the influence of Thomas Arne, he began composing large-scale works with English language texts. Though almost all of his English language works are technically oratorios and not operas, many of them, such as Acis and Galatea (1718) and Semele (1743), have become an important part of the opera repertoire.

First edition manuscript (1724).

Throughout the 36 years in which Italian opera was his major preoccupation, Handel adhered closely to the standard form of the period, determined by the priority given to solo singing and to stage presentation in which sets were changed in view of the audience and the curtain not lowered until the end of the evening. Recitatives followed by solo arias, invariably in da capo form (though often with a shortened return to the main section), dominate the operas, and scenes are generally constructed to begin with a number of characters on stage, each of whom sings an aria and leaves. The final scene usually ends with a coro sung by the soloists; ensembles are otherwise rare and largely confined to scenes of public rejoicing; only "Dall’orror" in Act 3 of Alcina (1735) touches the profundity of the choruses in the English choral works.

Handel’s operas thus appear at a first glance very like those of his contemporaries; what sets them apart is the excellence of the music and its ability to express with immediate conviction the emotional states of the characters in the context of the drama.

List of works

The following is a complete list of Handel's operatic works. All are opera seria in three acts, unless otherwise stated.

HWV	Title	Premiere	Modern revival	Libretto	Notes
1	Almira (Der in Kronen erlangte Glücks-Wechsel, oder: Alimira, Königin von Castilien)	8 January 1705, Theater am Gänsemarkt, Hamburg	4 June 1994, Halleschen Händelfestspiele, Bad Lauchstädt	Friedrich Christian Feustking, after Giulio Pancieri	Singspiel
2	Nero (Die durch Blut und Mord erlangete Liebe)	25 February 1705, Theater am Gänsemarkt, Hamburg		Friedrich Christian Feustking	Music lost Organ voluntary 'Arrival of the Queen of Sheba'
3	Florindo (Der beglückte Florindo)	1708, Theater am Gänsemarkt, Hamburg		Hinrich Hinsch	Music lost
4	Daphne (Die verwandelte Daphne)	1708, Theater am Gänsemarkt, Hamburg		Hinrich Hinsch	Music lost
5	Rodrigo (Vincer se stresso è la maggior vittoria)	1707, Florence	1984, Innsbruck	After Francesco Silvani's II duello d'amore e di vendetta Italian libretto
6	Agrippina	Late 1709 / early 1710, Teatro San Giovanni Grisostomo, Venice	1943, Halle	Vincenzo Grimani
7a/b	Rinaldo	24 February 1711, Queen's Theatre, London	June 1954, Halle	Giacomo Rossi/Aaron Hill, after Tasso, La Gerusalemme liberata, Italian libretto
8a/b/c	Il pastor fido	22 November 1712, Queen's Theatre, London	20 June 1948, Göttingen (third, November 1734 version); 14 September 1971, Abingdon (first, 1712 version)	Giacomo Rossi, after Giovanni Battista Guarini 8b Italian libretto, 8c Italian libretto
9	Teseo	10 January 1713, Queen's Theatre, London	29 June 1947, Göttingen	Nicola Francesco Haym, after Philippe Quinault Italian libretto	5 acts
10	Silla	2 June 1713?, Burlington House?, London		Giacomo Rossi, after Plutarch Italian libretto	Music reused in Amadigi
11	Amadigi di Gaula	25 May 1715, King's Theatre, London	Abbey Hall, Abingdon, 1968,	Rossi or Haym (?), after Antoine Houdar de la Motte's Amadis de Grèce, 1699 Italian libretto
12a/b	Radamisto	27 April 1720, King’s Theatre, London	27 June 1927, Göttingen	Haym (?), after D. Lalli Italian libretto
13	Muzio Scevola	15 April 1721, King’s Theatre, London	1928, Essen	Paolo Antonio Rolli, after Silvio Stampiglia Italian libretto	only Act 3 by Handel
14	Floridante	9 December 1721, King’s Theatre, London	10 May 1962, Unicorn Theatre, Abingdon	Rolli, after Francesco Silvani's La costanza in trionfo Italian libretto
15	Ottone	12 January 1723, King’s Theatre, London	5 July 1921, Göttingen	Haym, after S B Pallavicino Italian libretto
16	Flavio	14 May 1723, King’s Theatre, London	1967, Göttingen	Haym, after M Norris Italian libretto
17	Giulio Cesare	20 February 1724, King’s Theatre, London	1922, Göttingen	Haym Italian libretto
18	Tamerlano	31 October 1724, King’s Theatre, London	7 September 1924, Karlsruhe	Haym, after Agostin Piovene and Nicholas Pradon Italian libretto
19	Rodelinda	13 February 1725, King’s Theatre, London	26 June 1920, Göttingen	Haym, after Antonio Salvi, after Pierre Corneille's play Pertharite, roi des Lombards Italian libretto
20	Scipione	12 March 1726, King’s Theatre, London	1937, Göttingen	Rolli Italian libretto
21	Alessandro	5 May 1726, King’s Theatre, London	1959, Stuttgart (In German)	O Mauro Italian libretto
22	Admeto	31 January 1727, King’s Theatre, London	1964, Abingdon	Haym Italian libretto
23	Riccardo Primo	11 November 1727, King’s Theatre, London	8 July 1964, Sadler's Wells Theatre (Handel Opera Society), London	Rolli, after Francesco Briani Italian libretto
24	Siroe	17 February 1728, King’s Theatre, London	December 1925, Gera	Haym, after Metastasio Italian libretto
25	Tolomeo	30 April 1728, King’s Theatre, London	19 June 1938, Göttingen	Haym, adapted from Carlo Sigismondo Capece Italian libretto
26	Lotario	2 December 1729, King’s Theatre, London	3 September 1975, Kenton Theatre, Henley-on-Thames	After Antonio Salvi Italian libretto
27	Partenope	24 February 1730, King’s Theatre, London	23 June 1935, Göttingen	After Silvio Stampiglia Italian libretto
28	Poro	2 February 1731, King’s Theatre, London	1928, Braunschweig	After Metastasio Italian libretto
29	Ezio	15 January 1732, King’s Theatre, London	30 June 1926, Göttingen	Metastasio Italian libretto
30	Sosarme	15 February 1732, King’s Theatre, London	1970, Abingdon	After Salvi Italian libretto
31	Orlando	27 January 1733, King’s Theatre, London	6 May 1959, Abingdon	After Capece, after Ludovico Ariosto's Orlando furioso Italian libretto
32	Arianna in Creta	26 January 1734, King’s Theatre, London		After Pietro Pariati's Arianna e Teseo
A 11	Oreste	18 December 1734, Covent Garden Theatre, London	1990, Karlsruhe	After Giangualberto Barlocci	Pasticcio
33	Ariodante	8 January 1735, Covent Garden Theatre, London		After Salvi, after Ariosto's Orlando Furioso Italian libretto
34	Alcina	16 April 1735, Covent Garden Theatre, London	1928, Leipzig	After Ariosto's Orlando Furioso Italian libretto
35	Atalanta	12 May 1736, Covent Garden Theatre, London	1970, Hintlesham Festival, Hintlesham	After Belisario Valeriani Italian libretto
36	Arminio	12 January 1737, Covent Garden Theatre, London	23 February 1935, Leipzig (in German)	After Salvi Italian libretto
37	Giustino	16 February 1737, Covent Garden Theatre, London	21 April 1963, Abingdon	Adapted from Pariati's Giustino, after Nicolo Beregan's Il Giustino Italian libretto
38	Berenice	18 May 1737, Covent Garden Theatre, London		After Salvi
A 13	Alessandro Severo	25 February 1738, King’s Theatre, London	18 March 1997, Britten Theatre, Royal College of Music, London	After Apostolo Zeno	Pasticcio
39	Faramondo	3 January 1738, King’s Theatre, London	5 March 1976, Halle	Adapted from Apostolo Zeno's Faramondo Italian libretto
40	Serse	15 April 1738, King’s Theatre, London	5 July 1924, Göttingen	After Stampiglia Italian libretto	Also known as Xerxes
A 14	Giove in Argo	1 May 1739, King’s Theatre, London	15 September 2006, Markgräfliches Opernhaus, Bayreuth	Antonio Maria Lucchini	Pasticcio
41	Imeneo	22 November 1740, theatre in Lincoln's Inn Fields, London	13 March 1960, Halle	After Stampiglia's Imeneo
42	Deidamia	10 January 1741, theatre in Lincoln's Inn Fields, London		Rolli Italian libretto

See also

• List of compositions by George Frideric Handel

References

• Hicks, Anthony (1992), 'Handel, George Frideric' in The New Grove Dictionary of Opera, ed. Stanley Sadie (London) ISBN 0-333-73432-7
• Warrack, John and West, Ewan (1992), The Oxford Dictionary of Opera, 782 pages, ISBN 0-19-869164-5
• Some of the information in this article is taken from the related Dutch Wikipedia article.