The German composer George Frederick Handel, who settled in London
with his patron George I, introduced
opera seria to London when his Italian opera
Rinaldo which was first performed in 1711. Opera seria literally
translates as ‘serious opera'. The characters were all noble
or mythological and the plots about political
intrigue or history. The story was told in recitatives,
while sung arias expressed the emotions.
Rinaldo played for 15 performances and was considered a great success.
The opera was staged with dramatic settings:
an enchanted palace with blazing battlements;
a black cloud filled with monsters spitting fire
and smoke. The manager of the theatre Aaron Hill
took the spectacular elements of semi-opera
and melded them with Italian style music.
Handel's operas were vocally elaborate, with long arias designed to display the virtuosity of the castrato stars. His works were full of complicated arias that thrilled
English audiences.
Introduction
