Floridante
Music by George Frideric Handel · libretto by Paolo Antonio Rolli · premiered 1721
Floridante (HWV 14) is an opera seria in three acts by George Frideric Handel. The Italian-language libretto was by Paolo Antonio Rolli after Francesco Silvani's libretto for Marc'Antonio Ziani dramma per musica La costanza in trionfo of 1696. The opera was first given at the King's Theatre in London on 9 December 1721 and was a success with audiences, being revived by Handel in several subsequent seasons. The plot involves dynastic struggles and love tangles in a fictionalised Ancient Persia and is notable for an exceptionally beautiful duet, "Ah, mia cara."
Text from the Wikipedia article "Floridante", licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
About the Composer
George Frideric (or Frederick) Handel ( HAN-dəl; baptised Georg Fried[e]rich Händel, German: [ˈɡeːɔʁk ˈfʁiːdʁɪç ˈhɛndl̩] ; 5 March [O.S. 23 February] 1685 – 14 April 1759) was a German-British Baroque composer well-known for his operas, oratorios, anthems, concerti grossi, and organ concerti. Born in Halle, Handel spent his early life in Hamburg and Italy before settling in London in 1712, where he spent the bulk of his career and became a naturalised British subject in 1727. He was strongly influenced both by the middle-German polyphonic choral tradition and by composers of the Italian Baroque. In turn, Handel's music forms one of the peaks of the "high baroque" style, bringing Italian…
Text from the Wikipedia article "George Frideric Handel", licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Other Operas by George Frideric Handel
- Flavio
- Almira (1705)
- Daphne (1706)
- Florindo (1708)
- Agrippina (1709)
- Berenice (1709)
- Amadigi di Gaula (1715)
- Acis and Galatea (1718)