- Deidamia (opera)
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Deidamia (HWV 42) was George Frideric Handel's last Italian opera. The Italian text was by Paolo Antonio Rolli.
Contents
Performance history
The opera was first performed on 10 January 1741 at Lincoln's Inn Fields Theatre, London. The opera received only three performances, at a time when the public was becoming tired of Italian opera. (Handel subsequently turned his attention to composing oratorios.) The opera was revived in the 1950s and is occasionally staged. It has been recorded.
Roles
Role Voice type Premiere Cast, 10 January 1741
(Conductor: - )Deidamia, daughter of Licomede soprano Nerea, friend of Deidamia soprano Achille (Achilles), in women's dress, under the name of Pirra soprano Ulisse (Odysseus), King of Ithaca, using the name Antiloco alto castrato or contralto Fenice, King of Argos bass Licomede (Lycomedes), King of Skyros bass Synopsis
The opera is based upon the Greek mythological character Deidamia, the daughter of King Lycomedes of Skyros, who bore a child by Achilles.
E-book
Score of Deidamia (ed. Friedrich Chrysander, Leipzig 1885)
References
- Dean, Winton (2006), Handel's Operas, 1726-1741, Boydell Press, ISBN 1843832682 The second of the two volume definitive reference on the operas of Handel
Categories:- Operas by George Frideric Handel
- 1741 operas
- Operas based on Greco-Roman mythology
- Operas
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