Agrippina is an opera seria in three acts by George Frideric Handel with a libretto by Cardinal Vincenzo Grimani. Composed for the 1709–10 Venice Carnevale season, the opera tells the story of Agrippina, the mother of Nero, as she plots the downfall of the Roman Emperor Claudius and the installation of her son as emperor. Grimani's libretto, considered one of the best that Handel set, is an "anti-heroic satirical comedy", full of topical political allusions. Some analysts believe that it reflects Grimani's political and diplomatic rivalry with Pope Clement XI.
The year 1709 in music involved some significant events.
Alessandro, is an opera composed by George Frideric Handel in 1726 for the Royal Academy of Music. Paolo Rolli's libretto is based on the story of Ortensio Mauro's La superbia d'Alessandro. This was the first time the famous singers Faustina Bordoni and Francesca Cuzzoni appeared together in one of Handel's operas. The original cast also included Francesco Bernardi who was known as Senesino.
Poro, re dell'Indie is an opera seria in three acts by George Frideric Handel. The Italian-language libretto was adapted from Alessandro nell'Indie by Metastasio, and based on Alexander the Great's encounter with Porus in 326 BC. The libretto had already been set to music by Leonardo Vinci in 1729 and was used as the text for more than sixty operas throughout the 18th century.
Muzio Scevola is an opera seria in three acts about Gaius Mucius Scaevola. The Italian-language libretto was by Paolo Antonio Rolli, adapted from a text by Silvio Stampiglia. The music for the first act was composed by Filippo Amadei, the second act by Giovanni Bononcini, and the third by George Frideric Handel. Collaborations of groups of composers were common in the 18th century, though this is the only one done in London. Bononcini had written the music for two earlier treatments of this story on his own, works dating from 1695 and 1710.
Giove in Argo is an Italian opera by George Frideric Handel. It is one of Handel's three pasticcio works made up of music and arias from his previous operas. The libretto was written by Antonio Maria Lucchini. The opera was first performed at the King's Theatre, Haymarket, London, on 1 May 1739.
Alessandro nelle Indie is an opera seria in two acts by Giovanni Pacini to a libretto by Andrea Leone Tottola and Giovanni Schmidt, based on Alessandro nell'Indie by Pietro Metastasio. It was premiered at the Teatro di San Carlo in Naples on 29 September 1824, and had a total of 38 performances in its first season.
Scanderbeg is an opera in three acts composed by Antonio Vivaldi to an Italian libretto by Antonio Salvi. It was first performed at the Teatro della Pergola in Florence on 22 June 1718 to mark the re-opening of the theatre to public performances. While the libretto has been preserved, only fragments of the original score remain.
L'empio punito is an opera by composer Alessandro Melani. Notably the first opera written on the subject of Don Juan, the work uses an Italian language libretto by Giovanni Filippo Apolloni and Filippo Acciaiuoli. The opera was commissioned by Marie Mancini for performance during Carnival of 1669. The work premiered at the Teatro di Palazzo Colonna in the historic Borgo district of Rome on 17 February 1669.
Antonia Margherita Merighi was an Italian contralto active between 1703 and 1744 and known for her performances in operas by George Frideric Handel.
Annibale Pio Fabri, also known as Balino, from Annibalino, diminutive of his first name, was an Italian singer and composer of the 18th century. One of the leading tenors of his age in a time dominated by the castrati, Fabri is now best known for his association with the composer George Frideric Handel, in whose operas Fabri sang.
Il Pompeo is a dramma per musica in three acts by composer Alessandro Scarlatti. Written in 1682 when Scarlatti was 22 years old, it was his fourth opera and first dramatic work on a serious and grand subject. The opera uses an Italian language libretto by Nicolò Minato which had previously been used by Francesco Cavalli for his 1666 opera Pompeo Magno. The work premiered at the Teatro di Palazzo Colonna in Rome on 25 January 1683.
Caterina Galli was an Italian operatic mezzo-soprano. She first rose to fame in England in the 1740s and early 1750s where she was particularly admired for her performances in the works of George Frideric Handel. She then enjoyed success in her native country in the 1750s and 1760s, before returning to England, where she remained active as a performer up through 1797.
Ezio is an opera eroica or "heroic" opera in 3 acts by Gaetano Latilla. The opera uses an Italian-language libretto by Pietro Metastasio. Metastasio's libretto was partly inspired by Jean Racine's play Britannicus and had earlier been set to music by George Frideric Handel in 1732. The work's protagonist is the fifth-century AD Roman general Flavius Aetius, returned from his victory over Attila. Latilla's version premiered at the Teatro di San Carlo in Naples on 10 July 1758. The composer both directed and conducted the production and Vincenzo Re designed the sets used in the premiere. The cast included Giovanni Carestini in the title role, Caterina Gabrielli as Fulvia, Maddalena Galli as Onoria, Caterina Galli as Valentiniano III, Gregorio Babbi as Massimo, and Antonio Ambrogi as Varo.
Carlo Scalzi was an Italian castrato who had an active performance career in major opera houses in Italy from 1718-1738. He was also heard in London in 1733–1734 where he notably created the role of Alceste in the world premiere of George Frideric Handel's Arianna in Creta. The librettist Pietro Metastasio described Scalzi as a "very unique singer" and likened his voice to that of the famous castrato Farinelli.
Siroe, or Siroe re di Persia, is an opera seria in three acts by Johann Adolph Hasse. The libretto was by Metastasio. As with many of the latter's libretti, Siroe was also set by Hasse's contemporaries, for example Vinci, Vivaldi and Handel.
Giuseppe Ferdinando Brivio was an Italian composer, conductor, violinist, and singing teacher who is chiefly known for his operas. His work displays a natural expression and uses figurations similar to that of Antonio Vivaldi.
Il Giustino is an opera in three acts by composer Giovanni Legrenzi. The work uses an Italian-language libretto by Nicolò Beregan based on the life of Emperor Justin I. The opera premiered on 12 February 1683 at the Teatro San Salvador in Venice; Selfridge-Field gives 7 February as the date. Legrenzi dedicated the work to Alexander Farnese, Duke of Parma.
Carlo re d'Allemagna is a three-act dramma per musica by Italian composer Alessandro Scarlatti to a libretto by Giuseppe Papis, after Francesco Silvani, premiered at the Teatro San Bartolomeo of Naples on 26 or 30 January 1716. This is the composer's 79th opera out of 114 composed.
