"The rivalry between Handel and Porpora in London would appear to have been one of the most heated feuds in the history of 18th century music, a subject that critics and admirers of the whole dramma per musica repertoire found particularly fascinating. So it's almost a pity that this contest, strife, dispute between giants never actually took place in the terms that are commonly reported. Granted, rivalry existed within musical circles at the time, but this had more to do with individual singers, aesthetic concepts and the patrons of the two different opera companies in London, and often had little to do with music as such. There was certainly no blazing personal row between the two composers, and though both were relatively hot-tempered, neither appears to have considered the other an enemy. Indeed, there is evidence to suggest that the two artists actually admired each other's work. Suffice it to recall that Porpora kept a copy of Handel's 'Tolomeo re d'Egitto' made in the very years in whith this curious 'rivalry' was in full swing (see 'Stille amare,' track 17). By the same token, Handel greeted the publication of 'Porpora's Cantate op. 1' in 1735 with enthusiasm, as Giuseppe Sigismondo (1739-1826) points out in his 'Apoteosi della musica del Regno di Napoli,' an essential source for the history of Italian music.
"The huge misunderstanding regarding the whole question of 'rivalry' probably derives from the effectively heated climate of opinion prevailing in England between 1733 and 1737, when the two composers were working there. So it certainly makes sense to explain the setting in which the purported challenge took place. Until 29 December 1733, with the first performance of 'Arianna in Naxo' at Lincoln's Inn Fields, opera audiences in London had never heard an entire original work by Porpora. That said, however, just as his fame in Venice was beginning to grow, his name had appeared in association with a new production, 'Elisa,' staged at the Haymarket in 1726. Nine arias by Porpora, slightly modified, were then included by Handel in four pasticcios between 1730 and 1732: 'Ormisda' (1730), 'Venceslao' (1731), 'Lucio Papirio dittatore' (1732) and 'Catone in Utica' (1732). Depending on the case, these pieces were performed in England as a choice of the singers who had already sung them on the continent or, sometimes (as in the case of 'Quando piomba improvvisa saetta,' from Porpora's 'Poro' - track 18) because Handel himself wanted them into the scores.
"Handel exercised an absolute monopoly over opera in London, and Propora's arrival in the city to head the Opera of Nobility regarded both art and politics. Although London audiences consisted of little more than a thousand or so people, these came from the most important social strata, who were becoming increasingly aware that the musical style and dramaturgy then in fashion in Europe did not coincide with what the company directed by Handel had been staging for many years. Opera houses on the continent hosted works based on extremely modern librettos, often written by Metastasio, the foremost Italian poet of the century. Moreover, the composers connected with the best Neapolitan avant-garde circles had embraced a style that could accommodate both the liveliest dramatic requirements and constantly evolving vocal tastes introduced by a new generation of singers. Just imagine the impact of an aria such as 'Nume the reggi 'l mare' on an audience accustomed to the use of orchestral accompaniment and voice a la Handel, which was considerably less gallant than the Italian standard of the time (track 2). Although the situation in London was not entirely impermeable to all of this, it was nevertheless distinctly static and dominated by the conflict between the Tory and the Whig political perspectives, some ill-concealed anti-German sentiments, and a general discontent caused by price increases for the audiences who attended Handel's works. Moreover, the poet Paolo Rolli and the singer Senesino were scheming in favour of a new company that was overtly opposed to the existing one. A group of aristocrats within the sphere of Frederik, Prince of Wales, were bent on creating new produdions, calling in the best musicians then available in Europe. To create an outstanding vocal cast, the London star singers of the time (Francesca Cuzzoni, Senesino and Antonio Montagnana) were joined by Carlo Broschi Farinelli. The sets were to be designed by artists of the calibre of Jacopo Amigoni, and to cap it all, the composer they had in mind was Porpora, internationally acclaimed as one of the most solid points of reference with regard to musical quality and innovation. Indeed, Porpora was not only one of the foremost representatives of the heroic style connected with Pietro Metastasio's librettos, but also an undisputed master of recitative and a great connoisseur of the human voice.
"All sorts of things happened during the course of those difficult years in London, where there were two opera companies that vied with each other: duels fought to their lethal conclusion during performances, violent financial crises, and evenings when Farinelli sang for an almost empty house. Yet most of this had little to do with the individual choices of the two composers involved, their main focus being the need to stage their creations by coordinating the instrumentalists and the singers. Handel and Porpora were certainly facing a challenge, but not among themselves. The aim of both of them was to attract audiences. Encouraged by his dose collaboration with Rolli, Porpora was more inclined to experiment, achieving greater formal freedom and an appealing take on local theatrical usage. Handel, for his part, soon had to resort to hiring singers who made a great impact on audiences (one of them was Giovanni Caregtini). In this he glowed skill in quickly adapting to the requirements of the moment, thinking up original ways of making his productions more attractive, including integrating ballets in his operas, which often meant engaging the dancer Marie Salle.
"A particularly famous case in point is Handel's opera 'Ariodante.' Although the libretto was a rather modest adaptation of an earlier text by Antonio Salvi, the opera itself reveals the composer's genius in exploiting the opportunity of having Carestini in the cast and being able to count on a good ballet company. For this recording we have decided to include two musical episodes of particular importance from the opera: 'Scherza infida' (here performed with the variations of the B section and the Da Capo preserved in a well-known Engligh manuscript of the 18th century (track 9), and the ballet that closes the second act (tracks 11-14). The famous aria represents an extraordinary example of Handel's mastery in giving musical form to the theatrical requirements of the libretto, in particular in the delicate balance between vocal line and instrumental accompaniment (with bassoon obbligato and muted strings), thus complementing the state of mind of the protagonist In April of the same year, the company also staged 'Alcina,' whith includes 'Sta nell'ircana pietrosa tana' (track 1), especially written for Carestini to underline the singer's technical agility more than his power to move audiences, given the completely different dramatic context.
"Right around the opening of 'Ariodante,' Porpora and his team were staging 'Polifemo,' one of his most convincing scores, based on a delightful new libretto of heroic-pastoral inspiration written by Paolo Rolli. The cast included Farinelli, Senesino, Francesca Cuzzoni, Antonio Montagnana, Francesca Bertolli and Maria Segatti. The aria 'Il gioir qualor s'aspetta' (track 10), sung by Calipso, concludes the masterful third scene of Act III, which tells of how Odysseus blinds of the ferocious giant Polyphemus. The fiery triplets of the vocal score and the animated passages played by the strings brilliantly underline the personal joy of the nymph, who sings of the success of the hero she loves.
"There can be no doubt that Porpora proved to be particularly flexible in the way he adapted to London theatre life, which called for approaches that were sometimes at odds with the experience and expectations of a composer trained in Italy. This regarded not only form and style, but also dramaturgy, as in the case of 'Mitridate,' based on a Shakespearean framework far from continental theatrical tastes. In fad it was not until Alessandro Verri's translations of Shakespeare were published in 1777 that the Bard's works began to influence Italian cultural output and, consequently, the stage works performed in Italy. Another essential aspect of the relationship between British audiences and the dramma per musica is the recitative: since knowledge of Italian was uncommon among opera-goers in London, secco recitatives tended to be shorter than in Italy, whereas accompanied recitatives were surprisingly numerous and long compared with what was common on the continent. An exemplary case in point is the intense and delicate sequence of recitative and aria in 'Dolce è su queste alte mie logge a sera... Fu del braccio onipotente,' which is part of the only oratorio Porpora wrote in England: 'David e Bersabea' (tracks 3-4). Here the verses describe the moment in which the King of Israel first sets eyes on the lovely Bathsheba, with whom he falls in love. Although the work comprises some remarkable music, the oratorio turned out to be a tremendous flop, probably because the score reflected tastes that were far removed from those established with such success by Handel.
"In 1737, when excessive costs and insufficient fee-paying audiences led to the collapse of Opera of Nobility, Porpora returned to the continent, and to composing in a fashion that was more akin to Italian reality. Although he reused very little of the material he had composed in London, he did rework a scene from his 'Ifigenia in Aulide' to turn it into a chamber cantata for two voices: 'Calcante e Achille.' This is the source of the aria originally written for Farinelli 'A questa man verra' (track 8). The rest of his English output was completely forgotten, and the whole subject of the relationship between Handel and Popora only surfaced much later, at the start of the 19th century, when various legends, since disproved, began to circulate about Handel's unlikely admiration for Porpora's 'Berenice,' and for the equally unlikely challenge between the two regarding 'Agrippina.'
"In his life Porpora did have a couple of real adversaries with whom he clashed: Leonardo Vinci and Benedetto Marcello, though only the former constituted for him a real worry. His relationship with Handel during the London years doesn't seem based on personal antagonism: in fact both the composers were duelling with quarrelsome, lively audiences, whose riotous attitudes contributed to the birth of some of the foremost masterpieces of 18th century opera." (Stefano Aresi. From the liner notes.)
Performers: Le Concert de l'Hostel Dieu, Franck-Emmanuel Comte, Giuseppina Bridelli
1. Georg Friedrich Händel - Alcina, HWV 34: 'Sta Nell'ircana Pietrosa Tana'
2. Nicola Porpora - Arianna In Naxo: 'Nume Che Reggi 'L Mare'
3. Nicola Porpora - David E Bersabea: 'Dolce È Su Queste Alte Mie Logge A Sera'
4. Nicola Porpora - David E Bersabea: 'Fu Del Braccio Onnipotente'
5. Nicola Porpora - Polifemo, Ouverture: I. Ouverture
6. Nicola Porpora - Polifemo, Ouverture: II. Allegro
7. Nicola Porpora - Polifemo, Ouverture: III. (...)
8. Nicola Porpora - Calcante E Achille: 'A Questa Man Verrà'
9. Georg Friedrich Händel - Ariodante, HWV 33: 'Scherza Infida'
10. Nicola Porpora - Polifemo: 'Il Gioir Qualor S'aspetta'
11. Georg Friedrich Händel - Ariodante, HWV 33, Suite De Ballet: I. Entrée Des Songes Agréables
12. Georg Friedrich Händel - Ariodante, HWV 33, Suite De Ballet: II. Entrée Des Songes Funestes
13. Georg Friedrich Händel - Ariodante, HWV 33, Suite De Ballet: III. Entrée Des Songes Agréables Effrayés
14. Georg Friedrich Händel - Ariodante, HWV 33, Suite De Ballet: IV: Le Combat Des Songes Funestes Et Agréables
15. Nicola Porpora - Mitridate: 'Alza Al Soglio I Guardi'
16. Georg Friedrich Händel - Tolomeo, HWV 25: 'Inumano Fratel, Barbara Madre'
17. Georg Friedrich Händel - Tolomeo, HWV 25: 'Stille Amare, Già Vi Sento'
18. Georg Friedrich Händel - Catone In Utica, HWV A7: 'Quando Piomba Improvvisa Saetta'
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