Admeto

"Admeto, re di Tessaglia" ("Admetus, King of Thessaly") is a three-act opera with music composed by George Frideric Handel to an Italian-language libretto prepared by Nicola Haym. The story is partly based on Euripedes' "Alcestis". The opera's first performance was at the Haymarket Theatre in London on 31 January 1727. The original cast included Faustina Bordoni as Alcestis and Francesca Cuzzoni as Antigona, as "Admeto" was the second of the five operas that Handel composed to feature specifically these two "prime donne" of the day. [Dean, Winton, "Reports: Birmingham" (July 1968). "The Musical Times", 109 (1505): pp. 651-656.] The opera received 19 performances in its first season, and over the time from September 1727 to January 1732, received 16 additional performances. "Admeto" was revived in 1754 and received 5 additional performances. The last, 6 April 1754, proved to be the last opera performance that Handel saw of his own operas in his lifetime. [Smith, William C., "The 1754 Revival of Handel's "Admeto" (April 1970). "Music & Letters", 51 (2): pp. 141-149.]

Roles

elected recordings

* EMI Classics 1C 163-30 808/812: René Jacobs (as Admeto), Rachel Yakar, Ulrik Cold, Rita Dams, James Bowman, Jill Gomez, Max van Egmond; Il Complesso Barocco; Alan Curtis, conductor [Anderson, Nicholas, "Recordings: Admeto" (January 1981). "Early Music", 9 (1): pp. 129-130.]

Notes

References

*citation|first=Winton|last=Dean|title=Handel's Operas, 1726-1741|publisher=Boydell Press|year=2006
id=ISBN 1843832682 The second of the two volume definitive reference on the operas of Handel

External links

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