THE FLORIDA STATE UNIVERSITY

COLLEGE OF MUSIC

ANTONIO MONTAGNANA:

PROGRESSION OF A HANDELIAN BASS

By

JASON LESTER

A Treatise submitted to the

College of Music
In partial fulfillment of the
Requirements for the degree of
Doctor of Music

Degree Awarded:
Fall Semester, 2006
The members of the Committee approve the treatise of Jason Lester defended on October

31, 2006.

_____________________________
Stanford Olsen
Professor directing treatise

_____________________________
Charles Brewer
Outside Committee Member

_____________________________
Roy Delp
Committee Member

_____________________________
Douglas Fisher
Committee Member

The Office of Graduate Studies has verified and approved the above named committee
members.

ii
 I would like to thank all of family members for their constant support and
patience throughout this process, specifically Karol, Sharlette, Edward, Annette, Bill,
Pam, and Helen. I am grateful for Jon, Ken, and Greg for keeping me accountable to the
goals set forth on a weekly basis. In addition, I would like to thank Professors Douglas
Fisher, Roy Delp, Stanford Olsen, and Charles Brewer for their guidance on this project.
Lastly, I am deeply grateful to my wife, Laurie, for her humor, patience, and
belief in me. Thank you for your demonstrations of encouragement and kindness. I love
you very much.

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 TABLE OF CONTENTS

List of Figures v
Abstract vi

1. INTRODUCTION 1

2. GIUSEPPE MARIA BOSCHI 7

3. ANTONIO MONTAGNANA 12

4. EZIO 18

5. SOSARME 28

6. ORLANDO 36

7. CONCLUSION 50

BIBLIOGRAPHY 52

BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH 57

iv
 LIST OF EXAMPLES

2.1 Handel “Amor dà guerra” 1724 7

3.1 Handel “Nel mondo e nell’abisso” 1731 12

4.1 Handel “Nasce al bosco” 1732 19

4.2 Handel “Già risonar” 1732 . 21

4.3 Handel “Già risonar” 1732 22

5.1 Handel “Fra l’ombre” 1732 26

5.2 Handel “Sento il cor che lieto gode” 1732 28

6.1 Handel “Gieroglifici eterni” 1733 34

6.2 Handel “Lascia Amor, e siegui Marte” 1733 36

6.3 Handel “Tra caligini profonde” 1733 39

6.4 Handel “Sorge infausta una procella” 1733 41

v
 ABSTRACT

The purpose of this paper is to acknowledge the importance of Antonio

Montagnana’s vocal and dramatic abilities and to show how they contributed to George
Frideric Handel’s method of composing for the bass voice in opera. George Frideric
Handel’s operatic roles for the bass voice are quite varied, with some vocal selections
more appropriate today for baritones and others better suited for basses. It was common
practice for Handel and his contemporaries to tailor the vocal writing of their music for
the singers in a given cast. One such singer was basso, Antonio Montagnana, whose
principal association with Handel began in 1731 and ended in 1733. During this brief
period of time, Handel composed several notable operatic roles and arias for
Montagnana. By focusing on Handel’s compositional style before Montagnana’s arrival
and during their association, the author intends to show not only Handel’s ability to
adjust to his singers’ capabilities, but also Montagnana’s strengths as a complete
musician. Giuseppe Maria Boschi, Handel’s principal bass prior to Montagnana, will be
discussed briefly in order to draw a comparison with the changes made in Handel’s
compositional technique for the bass voice after Montagnana joined Handel’s company.
All three operatic roles premiered by Montagnana, Varo in Ezio (1732), Altomaro in
Sosarme (1732), and Zoroastro in Orlando (1733), will be examined with respect to both
the musical and dramatic choices made by Handel. These roles represent diverse
characterizations and a variety of vocal challenges for the singing actor, and provide a
testament to the talents and skills of this incomparable basso.

vi
 CHAPTER 1

Introduction

George Frideric Handel’s career as a composer of opera seria was a long and
prosperous venture that spanned several decades and countries. During the Baroque
period, a composer’s operatic output established a large portion of his reputation.1
Handel’s long-term commitment to opera seria was evident, even as the sacred oratorio
became wildly popular. Between the ages of nineteen and fifty-five, Handel composed
forty-one operas.2 Premieres of Handel’s operas took place in Hamburg, Venice,
Florence, and London, which witnessed thirty-five of his new operas.3 Even though
Handel was a German composer, composing Italian operas for an English speaking
audience, his compositional skills transcended these cultural barriers and made for a
successful venture, at least for some time. Unlike many composers of his era, Handel did
not only make his living with the patronage of nobility, but also succeeded through
determination and hard work as a composer, conductor, and impresario.4
Scholars have categorized Handel’s operas based variously on their literary,
musical, and dramatic characteristics, as well as by the cities in which they were
premiered.5 Perhaps the most useful tool to organize Handel’s operas is to categorize
them by segments of time. 1720-1728, during the time that Handel managed the Royal
Academy of Music, is one such period. The Royal Academy of Music was not a music
school or an organization where training took place, but was an institution established to

1
Carl Steven LaRue, “The Composer’s Choice: Aspects of Compositional Context and Creative
Process in Selected Operas from Handel’s Royal Academy Period.” (Ph.D. diss., University of
Chicago, 1990), 1.
2
Ibid.
3
Leneida Marie Crawford, “The Performance of Contrasting Roles in Selected Works of G. F.
Handel: Otho in “Agrippina,” Dejanira in “Hercules,” Daniel in Belshazzar.” (D.M.A. diss.,
University of Maryland College Park, 1996), 5.
4
Barbara Doscher, “George Frideric Handel: He Wrote for Specific Voices.” Journal of Singing
52 (September 1995), 33.
5
LaRue, “The Composer’s Choice,” 2.

1
produce regular seasons of Italian opera in London. When Handel traveled throughout
Europe, he would recruit and engage the best singers to participate in his operas. Some
of these singers were castrato Francesco Bernardi (known as Senesino), sopranos
Francesca Cuzzoni and Faustina Bordoni, and bass Giuseppe Maria Boschi. Many of
these singers remained with the Academy for several years, which created stability in the
company from season to season. During this time, Handel also used the same two
librettists, Nicola Haym and Paolo Rolli, for all of his operas.
Another period of operas occurred after the fall of the Royal Academy of Music
when Handel and impresario J. J. Heidegger collaborated to form the King’s Theater in
London’s Haymarket, also known as the Second Academy, which operated from
December 1729 until June 1734. The noblemen who helped finance the Royal Academy
relinquished their managerial rights of the theater to Handel and Heidegger during this
five-year span. These two gentlemen were now responsible for all the Italian operas
produced at the King’s Theater, which allowed them the freedom of selecting repertoire,
both for revivals and for new compositions.6 The aforementioned noblemen preferred
serious, heroic operas, but with his new position of power, Handel varied the types of
productions presented in the theater. A production of Partenope occurred during this
time, a work the Royal Academy had rejected because of its “depravity.”7 Productions of
pasticcios, as well as operas by Italian composers took place during this span. In
addition, the development of the English oratorio took place during this time under
Handel’s direction. Despite the efforts of modern scholars to categorize Handel’s operas
into clearly defined sections, the principal ambition of Handel was to produce seasons of
Italian opera for London audiences, regardless of literary, musical or dramatic choices.8
For a brief span during the operation of the Second Academy, an Italian bass
named Antonio Montagnana was a member of the roster. His vocal and dramatic abilities
were outstanding, although his tenure was short-lived, only lasting one and one-half

6
George Frideric Handel, Orlando, program notes by Anthony Hicks, L’Oiseau-Lyre 430-845-2,
1991, Compact Disc, 11.
7
Ibid.
8
LaRue, “The Composer’s Choice,” 2.

2
years. Handel began utilizing compositional techniques in Montagnana’s arias and
recitatives that had previously been reserved for the prima donna or the castrasto of the
cast. In order to understand the implications of that statement, the author will briefly
discuss the compositional process Handel undertook.
An important decision made by Handel before he began the compositional
process was determining the cast. Regarding the composers of opera seria and the
librettists, Reinhard Strohm states, “…the first consideration was the cast of singers
available, and this could even play a part in deciding the choice of subject.”9 In Handel’s
compositional process, the strengths and weaknesses of a cast, both musically and
dramatically, strongly affected the final product. The individual abilities of the cast could
even determine and change the dramatic structure of the opera, thus requiring the
librettist to alter and adapt the source material to coincide with the talents of the
performers. The librettist would adjust the libretto in order to assign the correct number
of arias for each singer, the placement of the arias, and the dramatic intent of the text.10
Carl Steven LaRue sums up the expediency in Handel’s writing: “…frequently, practical
necessity seems to have been the mother of artistic invention.”11 This penchant for
practicality is evident in Handel’s scores, in where he would write the timing of each act.
12
It is clear that Handel was a businessman and practicality was an essential part of
making money.
Eighteenth century opera was composed for performances in a contemporary
arena, not for historical preservation and with a long-term objective.13 After the selection
of the cast, the individual abilities of the singers influenced the actual compositional
process, with little consideration given to whether the opera would receive additional
performances by different artists. For example, the tenor in Radamisto, Alexander
Gordon, had an ability to both sustain a high tessitura and begin phrases in his upper

9
Reinhard Strohm, Essays on Handel and Italian Opera (Cambridge: Cambridge University
Press, 1985), 97.
10
LaRue, “The Composer’s Choice,” 325.
11
Ibid., 103.
12
Doscher, 33.
13
Ibid., 34.

3
register. Handel exploited this aspect of Gordon’s vocal ability by giving him an aria
where he must sing a’ fifteen times, often beginning a phrase on that pitch. Winton Dean
and John Merrill Knapp indicate that Handel was “so sensitive…to the ‘feel’ of an
individual voice that we can sometimes identify the singer for whom a detached aria was
composed from the music alone.”14 During the latter years of the Royal Academy of
Music, Handel had two prime donne, Francesca Cuzzoni and Faustina Bordoni, who had
different vocal abilities. Bordoni was gifted at singing sustained vocal lines with simple
melismas with frequent breaks within the melody. Her dramatic characterizations were
often optimistic, proactive, and hopeful. The arias for Cuzzoni contained extensive
passagework in her allegro arias and an emphasis of appoggiaturas and suspensions in her
slower arias.15 The characters written for Cuzzoni involved various aspects of
melancholy, passivity, and lamentation.16 Handel favored keys with sharps in the key
signature for Bordoni and keys with flats for Cuzzoni. There was also a significantly
greater percentage of arias composed in a major key for Bordoni. The author will utilize
this approach of interpretative analysis when discussing Antonio Montagnana’s music
composed by Handel and how it compares to the music composed for his major
predecessor, Giuseppe Maria Boschi.
Composers tried to exploit the talents of their singers in order to appease the
performers and to produce a popular opera for the audience. This practice of placating
the singer became so apparent that Handel’s contemporary composer Benedetto Marcello
once said, sarcastically, “Before he actually starts to write the music, the composer
should pay calls to all the female singers in the company and offer to include anything
they would care to have, such as arias without a bass in the accompaniment, furlanette,
rigadoons, etc., all with the violins, the bear, and the extras accompanying in unison.”17
Composers, singers, and audience members were aware that the exploitation of the solo

14
Winton Dean and John Merrill Knapp, Handel’s Operas 1704-1726 (New York: Clarendon
Press, 1987), 20.
15
LaRue, “The Composer’s Choice,”292.
16
Ibid., 283.
17
C. Steven LaRue, Handel and His Singers: The Creation of the Royal Academy Operas 1720-
1728 (New York: Oxford University Press, 1995), 1.

4
voice was the driving force behind opera seria, and with this knowledge singers gained
leverage, which enabled them to influence the final outcome of the composition.
An understanding of the relationship between singers and composers during this
era provides a backdrop that helps one to recognize the importance of Antonio
Montagnana’s vocal and dramatic abilities. The author intends to show how these
abilities contributed to George Frideric Handel’s method of composing for the bass voice
in opera. By focusing on Handel’s compositional style before Montagnana’s arrival and
during their association, the author intends to show not only Handel’s ability to adjust to
his singers’ capabilities, but also Montagnana’s strengths as a complete musician.
It is important to identify what pitch standard Handel used. On several occasions,
the author will make note of the range of a given aria or the range of a specific singer.
Although today’s standard pitch is A440, tuning during Handel’s lifetime varied a great
deal from country to country. The pitch of Handel’s tuning fork equals A423 Hz, or
cycles per second, and the organ Handel used at Cannons was tuned to A424.18 Bruce
Haynes writes that Handel’s orchestra played at A423.19 Although an aria might have
been composed and published in a specific key, when a performer sings the selection in
Handel’s tuning, the actual range would be somewhat lower than the present day concert
pitch.

18
Bruce Haynes, A History of Performing Pitch: The Story of “A” (Lanham, Maryland:
Scarecrow Press, Inc., 2002), 178.
19
Ibid., 291.

5
 CHAPTER 2
Giuseppe Maria Boschi

It is important to understand Handel’s resources, in terms of singers, before

Montagnana’s arrival in order to recognize the changes made in both his compositional
style and his dramatic presentation for the bass voice. Giuseppe Maria Boschi was one of
the core singers who formed a nucleus in the Royal Academy of Music from 1720-1728.
His range spanned two octaves, G to g’, and he had an ability to maintain a high tessitura.
By definition, the tessitura of a song or aria refers to the distribution of the notes and
whether the majority of them occur in the upper or lower part of a given vocal range.20
Although the scores classify him as a bass, the terminology used for all low voiced male
singers until the 19th century, the range and tessitura would probably classify him as a
baritone by today’s standards.
The writing of Boschi’s arias is a bit repetitive in regards to the compositional
techniques used. He premiered fifteen of Handel’s operas and had only one slow, lyrical
aria, in Siroe.21 Most of the other arias were “rage” arias. According to New Grove, a
“rage” aria is usually in a mood of defiance or rage with “vehement emotions that are
expressed in extremely angular, wide-leaping lines that show the influence of
instrumental styles in the developing concerto.”22 Boschi’s arias were often in allegro
tempo, in common time, and in a minor key with flats in the key signature, and with
violins doubling the vocal melody. The use of colla parte is very common in arias
composed for Boschi. Colla parte is a technique in which the violins are in unison or
octave doubling with the voice.23 Example 2.1 is an excerpt of the aria “Amor dà
guerra e pace” from Tamerlano. It clearly shows the monophonic texture in the writing
between the vocal line and the use of colla parte. It is also in G minor, a minor key with

20
“Handel’s Songs and Singers,” Music and Letters 16 (1935), 204.
21
Stanley Sadie, ed., The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians, vol. 4, Giuseppe
Maria Boschi, by Winton Dean (New York: Macmillan, 2001), 50.
22
Stanley Sadie, ed., The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians, vol. 2, Bass (ii), by
Owen Jander (London: Macmillan Publishers, 1980), 250.
23
Reinhard Strohm, Essays, 225.

6
flats in the key signature, and is allegro. In addition, the opening phrase outlines a triad,
a technique often used to begin “rage” arias. Winton Dean has stated this aria is “typical
of the music Handel wrote for Boschi” and continues by saying “the aria is a candidate
for the scissors in a modern revival restricted for time.”24

Example 2.1 Handel from Act I, scene vi of Tamerlano 1724, page 63.
Source: The works of George Frederic Handel, volume 69. Published by Gregg Press
Incorporation. Ridgewood, New Jersey, 1965.

24
Dean, Handel’s Operas 1704-1726, 552

7
 This excerpt is not representative of every aria composed for Boschi, but it is an
accurate representation of the typical aria composed for him. Boschi sang in several
operas by Antonio Lotti while in Venice and Dresden, and the construction of the music
composed for him during that time is very similar to Handel’s writing for him.25 Many of
Boschi’s other arias have the voice doubled with the bass line and vary only in texture
and complexity when the ritornello appears.26 Although as a group the arias composed
for Boschi are somewhat monothematic, this does not imply that the individual arias were
unsatisfactory. In the opinion of Charles Burney, as stated in A General History of
Music, “Handel’s genius and fire never shine brighter than in the base [sic] songs which
he composed for Boschi and Montagnana.”27 However, since the author has recognized
the precedent set by Handel to compose for the strengths of his singers, one infers that
Boschi’s vocal abilities were limited to singing “rage” arias, in which the vocal melody is
either doubled by the violins or basses, leaving little independence in the vocal writing.
In addition, many of Boschi’s arias are set syllabically or neumatically, where a single
syllable is sung on two to four pitches. There are some arias which contain extended
melismas, but generally if the vocal line is embellished it usually only receives two to
four notes on a given syllable. A syllabic setting is a simpler, more direct way of
composing as opposed to the extended, bravura vocal presentation in arias with
coloratura passages.28 Example 2.1 supports this idea of syllabic settings of arias for
Boschi. The evidence clearly shows that Handel’s arias for Boschi use those techniques
repeatedly.
Boschi had dramatic limitations as well. The dramatization of his characters was
often an exact likeness of the previous role he premiered. This would certainly coincide
with the abundance of “rage” arias. Boschi’s characters were usually either villains or
tyrants. James Miller, the librettist of Handel’s oratorio Joseph and his Brethren, notes in

25
Stanley Sadie, ed., The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians, Giuseppe
Maria Boschi, 50.
26
Winton Dean and John Merrill Knapp, Handel’s Operas 1704-1726, 430.
27
Charles Burney, A General History of Music, vol. 2 (New York: Harcourt, Brace, and
company, 1935), 702.
28
LaRue, “The Composer’s Choice,” 165.

8
one of his poems, “and Boschi-like be always in a rage.”29 One observer of Boschi’s
performances wrote, “if any of the audience chanced unhappily to be lulled to sleep by
these soothing entertainments, he never failed of rousing them up again, and by the
extraordinary fury both of his voice and action.”30 Meynell suggests that Leone in
Tamerlano, a role created by Boschi, serves no purpose to the drama, except “to provide
the relief of a couple of bass songs of about average Handelian quality.”31 Giuseppe
Maria Boschi was an important singer for Handel during the 1720’s. He was clearly
effective at singing rage arias and portraying villains, which was evidenced by the
abundance of roles he premiered while with the Academy, but the repetitive nature of his
music and characterizations demonstrates his lack of versatility.

29
Stanley Sadie, ed., The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians, Giuseppe
Maria Boschi, 50.
30
H. C. Colles, ed., Grove’s Dictionary of Music and Musicians, 3rd ed., vol. 1, Giuseppe
Boschi by Julian Marshall (New York: Macmillan company, 1941), 423.
31
Hugo Meynell, The Art of Handel’s Operas (Lewiston, NY: Edwin Mellen Press, 1986), 104.

9
 CHAPTER 3
Antonio Montagnana

The birth and death dates of Antonio Montagnana are unknown. He was born in
Venice and his career flourished from 1730-1750. His earliest documented performances
occurred in Rome in 1730, followed by performances in Turin in 1731. He retired
around 1750, which leads some to believe that he was born around the turn of the
century.32 His earliest known performances took place in productions of Nicola
Porpora’s operas. Montagnana was a pupil of Porpora, a famous composer and voice
teacher. To be identified as a pupil of Porpora during that time bestowed a great identity
to a singer since Porpora’s students had a reputation of being perfect singers and
competent musicians.33 Porpora’s students included Franz Joseph Haydn, Pietro
Metastasio, Carlo Broschi (known as Farinelli), Gaetano Majorano (known as Caffarelli),
Antonio Uberti (known as Porporino), Felice Salimbeni, and Regina Mingotti.34
Montagnana joined Handel’s King’s Theater roster in November 1731 only to leave in
June 1733 to join Porpora’s newly formed Opera of the Nobility, a rival company in
London. After the Opera of the Nobility closed in 1737, Montagnana re-joined Handel’s
group, which was now located at Covent Garden. The two operas Montagnana helped
premiere were Faramondo and Serse. From 1740 to 1750, Montagnana sang at the royal
chapel in Madrid, specifically at the Buen Retiro where he took part in several operas and
cantatas.
As previously stated, by today’s standards Giuseppe Maria Boschi’s voice would
be classified as a baritone. Antonio Montagnana’s range extended beyond two octaves,
from E to f’, and would be classified as a bass because of the lower tessitura employed in
the music. He had the ability to sing and sustain low notes, as opposed to merely
skimming over them in a melisma. His voice was also capable of singing fioratura and

32
George Frideric Handel, Orlando, program notes by Andrew Porter, Erato 0630-14636-2, 1996,
Compact Disc, 5.
33
“Handel’s Songs and Singers,” 202.
34
Eugene Casselman, “Handel’s Singers: An Appraisal.” Journal of Singing 24 (February 1968),
18.

10
cantabile arias with wide intervals.35 Apparently, he also had a sizable voice that
projected well into the opera house. According to one eyewitness who saw a
performance of Orlando, Montagnana “sung…with the noise like a Canon.”36 Eminent
music critic Andrew Porter wrote that once Montagnana joined Handel’s Second
Academy “the bass parts became more interesting, more varied, and more important:
both his technical and his emotional ranges were evidently greater.”37 During an era
when operatic basses typically portrayed “commentators, stooges or minor villains,”
Montagnana’s characterizations in Ezio, Sosarme, and Orlando demonstrate a wide range
of versatility.38 Another ringing endorsement comes from Jonathan Keates, who believes
Montagnana’s operatic premieres are the “finest of the composer’s operatic bass roles.”39
It is interesting to note that Handel composed three new arias for him in revivals
of Poro and Admeto, which came before the three premieres to be discussed here.
Example 3.1 is an excerpt of “Nel mondo e nell’abisso” from Tamerlano, the first music
composed for Montagnana by Handel. It was composed during a revival of Tamerlano in
November 1731 and inserted into Act III scene vii. It is not the same aria from Riccardo
Primo that begins with the same words, which was composed for Boschi. “Nel mondo e
nell’abisso” is a revision of Boschi’s original aria from Tamerlano, “Amor dà guerra e
pace,” discussed in chapter two. It is the reworking of that aria that Dean and Knapp
note was more an “extensive reworking, finer and much longer…broadening the main
vocal entries and enriching the orchestra; the cellos are several times detached from the
bass line.”40 This example demonstrates the vocal independence from the
accompaniment, particularly in the melismatic sections. In most of the arias composed
for Montagnana, the vocal line is detached from the orchestra during coloratura sections.

35
Winton Dean, Handel and the Opera Seria (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1969),
91.
36
Stanley Sadie, ed., The New Grove Dictionary of Opera, vol. 3, Orlando, by Anthony Hicks
(New York: Macmillan Press, 1992), 757.
37
Handel, Orlando, Erato, 6.
38
Jonathan Keates, Handel: The Man and His Music (New York: St. Martin’s Press, 1985), 161.
39
Ibid., 153.
40
Winton Dean and John Merrill Knapp, Handel’s Operas 1704-1726, 556.

11
This creates a more independent vocal line rather than constantly reinforcing the melody
through octave doubling or unison part writing. Example 3.1 also demonstrates an
antiphonal effect between the voice and the violin and oboe sections followed by an
extensive coloratura section that once again is not doubled in the accompaniment.

Example 3.1 Handel from Act III, scene vii of Tamerlano 1731, page 268-69.
Source: Hallische Händel-Ausgabe/Georg Friedrich Händel-Gesellschaft, volume 15.
Published by Bärenreiter. Kassel, Germany, 1996.

12
 The placement of arias within the structure of Handel’s operas generally indicates
the status of the singers for whom the arias were written. The highest honor went to a
singer who had the first or last aria of the opera. The next tier went to singers who
opened or closed an act. Librettists had to adjust the source material in order to
accommodate the classification of a given cast. Generally, the most important singers
were the castrato and the two leading ladies of the cast. In the three operas Montagnana
premiered, he had the last aria in two of the operas and the first aria in the third. In Ezio,
Montagnana’s first original opera with the Second Academy, Handel had the librettist
rearrange one of the soprano’s arias so that it came before Montagnana’s first aria in
order to delay his first entrance, thereby creating a greater sense of anticipation for the
audience.41
The singers who sang with Montagnana were equal to or better than those who
sang with Boschi, which reinforces Montagnana’s abilities to obtain such a high status in
the company. The primary castrato during Boschi’s tenure with the Royal Academy of
Music was Senesino. Senesino was also the lead castrato during Montagnana’s three
operatic premieres with Handel. In fact, Senesino took on the title character in all three
operas, Ezio, Sosarme, and Orlando. The leading ladies during Boschi’s run were
Faustina Bordoni and Francesca Cuzzoni, and many accolades have been written about
each singer. However, it has been noted that the voice of the leading lady during
Montagnana’s time on the roster, Anna Maria Strada del Pò, combined the beauty of
Cuzzoni’s voice and the flexibility of Bordoni’s voice.42 Strada sang a leading role in all
three of the aforementioned operas. Preference for singers can always be argued among
scholars, but placement of arias and varied compositional writing for an individual singer
cannot. The next three chapters will address each operatic role premiered by Antonio
Montagnana. Each chapter will discuss the musical and dramatic choices made by
Handel.

41
Strohm, Essays, 228.
42
Doscher, 34.

13
 CHAPTER 4
Ezio
The first Handelian role premiered by Montagnana was Varo from Ezio, which
premiered January 15, 1732. Pietro Metastasio (1698-1782) wrote Ezio. Metastasio had
a great impact on theater during the Baroque and Classical era. His twenty-seven libretti
were set to music over 800 times by composers such as Handel, Giovanni Pergolesi,
Christoph Willibald Gluck, Tommaso Traëtta, Johann Christian Bach, and Wolfgang
Amadeus Mozart.43 Handel was not the first composer to set Ezio. Porpora was the first
composer to set this text in 1728 in Venice. Pietro Auletta set Ezio in 1729, followed by
Johann Adolf Hasse’s setting in 1730. Needless to say, Metastasio did not write Ezio for
Handel to write an opera. Handel set three Metastasio librettos: Siroe, Poro, and Ezio.
When using Metastasio’s text as a basis for an opera, a composer can face some
difficulties adapting the written drama to the stage. Artificial symmetry and literary
refinement are qualities for which his poetry is known. Handel often found himself
“inhibited by the stiffness of the characters.”44 This may have been evident to the
audience since the opera did not have an immediate appeal, lasting only five
performances and not receiving a revival until 1926.45
Ezio, a Roman general, has returned from battle where he defeated Attila the Hun.
He and Fulvia, the daughter of Massimo the patrician, are in love. However,
Valentiniano, the emperor, is also in love with Fulvia. To make matters worse,
Valentiniano’s sister, Onoria, loves Ezio, who is falsely charged with the unsuccessful
assassination of Valentiniano. Varo, the role created by Montagnana, is the prefect to the
Pretorian Guard. After Ezio is charged with the assassination attempt, Varo announces
Ezio’s death when in actuality he has spared Ezio’s life. Massimo, the man who actually
initiated the assassination, provokes a riot after hearing of Ezio’s sentencing. As

43
James Sanderson, Baroque Opera [Web site], “Pietro Metastasio: Life of the 18th Century Poet
and Librettist,” Site address:
http://baroqueopera.com/shared/article.php?article_ID=15&ref=baroqueopera
44
Winton Dean and Anthony Hicks, The New Grove Handel (New York: W. W. Norton, 1983),
105.
45
Stanley Sadie, ed., The New Grove Dictionary of Opera, vol. 2 Ezio, by Anthony Hicks (New
York: Macmillan Press, 1992), 98.

14
Massimo is physically attacking the emperor, Ezio appears. Ezio asks the emperor,
Valentiniano, to pardon Massimo for his actions and to forgive Varo for not obeying
imperial orders to kill him. Valentiniano grants both wishes. This is followed by an
ensemble scene which states that faith is better after it is tested, just like gold is brighter
after being tried by fire.46
Varo, the role created by Montagnana, is a vocally demanding role in regards to
range, tessitura, and technical requirements for the singer, all of which are evident in his
exceptional arias. Although Varo is a subordinate character, he has three da capo arias.
Newman Flower notes, “the greatest merit of Ezio was the fine bass songs which Handel
composed for him.”47 Paul Henry Lang notes that Montagnana “saved Ezio for at least a
few performances by his excellent singing.”48 In addition, Jonathan Keates calls Varo
“the finest of the composer’s operatic bass roles.”49 The demands put upon Montagnana
include a trill on an A and a range of two octaves, within two measures! The libretto was
altered so that Montagnana’s Act I aria, “Se un bell’ardire può innamorarti,” was
rearranged to come later in the act, even though dramatically it does not make sense. By
delaying Montagnana’s first entrance, Handel heightened the audience’s anticipation of
the company’s new singer.50 “Se un bell’ardire può innamorarti,” better known by many
teachers as “Droop not, young lover,” is a well known selection that is readily available
in several bass anthologies. Although this aria spans an octave and a sixth, G to e’, it is
not an especially demanding aria and needs no further discussion.
Handel made the audience wait until Act II before Montagnana sang an aria,
“Nasce al bosco,” that demonstrated his outstanding skills.51 In “Nasce al bosco,” Varo
reflects on how fortune can make a shepherd become a ruler and how royalty can end up

46
Meynell, 158.
47
Newman Flower, George Frideric Handel: His Personality and His Times (New York:
Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1948), 212.
48
Paul Henry Lang, George Frideric Handel (New York: W. W. Norton & Co., 1966), 239.
49
Keates, 153.
50
Keates, 152.
51
Christopher Hogwood, Handel (New York: Thames and Hudson, 1984), 97.

15
grazing sheep. Reinhard Strohm refers to this aria as allegorical because the music
reflects abstract ideas and not actual objects, which would then be called tone painting.52
The idea of Fortune’s wings rising, falling, and then ascending to the highest peak, which
is then followed by the inevitable fall, is the basis for this argument.

Nasce al bosco in rozza cuna A happy shepherd is

Un felice pastorello, Born in the rough woods,
E con l’aure di fortuna And with the winds of fortune
Giunge i regni a dominar. He comes to rule kingdoms.

Presso al trono in regie fasce Near to the throne, in royal garments,

Sventurato un altro nasce, Another is born unlucky,
E fra l’ire della sorte And among the furies of fate
Và gli armenti a pascolar. He takes herds to pasture.

“Nasce al bosco” is composed in the key of F major, which often represents a

pastoral scene or theme. 53 By using this key, Handel illustrates Varo’s social status
through the music. The music of this da capo aria has a rustic, peasant dance quality.
Although Varo is a prefect, he is still a commoner and a pastoral setting is certainly
appropriate. The technical demands placed on the singer in this aria are substantial.
Burney describes this aria as being “composed on a plan different from most of Handel’s
other base [sic] songs, and was manifestly intended to exhibit the peculiar power of the
singer.”54 A two-octave range is required, F to f’, within a two-measure span. Handel
writes a sequence of descending scalar passages followed by ascending octave leaps, and
requires the singer to perform coloratura with trill-like passages. A descending leap of a
twelfth, from c’ to F, is written not once, but twice in “Nasce al bosco.” This large
descending leap immediately follows an ascending leap of an eleventh, c to f’. In this
aria, there are twenty-two instances where Handel wrote an interval of an octave or more
for Montagnana to sing, not including the da capo. Charles Burney’s comment regarding

52
Strohm, Essays, 229.
53
Meynell, 11.
54
Burney, 771.

16
Montagnana’s “peculiar accuracy of intonation in hitting distant intervals” certainly
applies to this aria.55
Example 4.1 is an excerpt from “Nasce al bosco.” It shows the final twelve
measures of the A section as the music approaches the cadence before the postlude. The
beginning of this excerpt illustrates a few of the ascending octave leaps and descending
scalar passages. The next phrase begins on F and ascends in a stepwise fashion
ultimately reaching f’ two measures later. Appropriately enough, the text refers to the
shepherd’s rise to prominence and dominance. The next few measures demonstrate a
coloratura passage with varying patterns on the word dominar, which means to dominate.
In this aria, Handel’s extensive melismas occur on the word dominar. The melody of this
passage has an alternating, trill-like quality. The final two measures of excerpt 4.1 is the
aforementioned section of music that spans two octaves in two measures. Typically, this
phrase has several large intervals, including an ascending eleventh and a descending
twelfth, which can be performed with ornamentation, possibly after the da capo,
connecting the large intervals or simply sung as written.

55
Hogwood, Handel, 97.

17
Example 4.1 Handel from Act II, scene viii of Ezio 1732, page 63-64.
Source: The works of George Frederic Handel, volume 80. Published by Gregg Press
Incorporation. Ridgewood, New Jersey, 1965.

Varo’s Act III aria, “Già risonar,” is the opera’s final aria. While “Nasce al
bosco” exploited Montagnana’s accuracy in negotiating extreme intervals, “Già risonar”
displayed his vocal facility. “Già risonar” has a trumpet solo, and according to Meynell
when a trumpet is used in an aria, it is featured as a solo instrument and not merely as an
accompaniment instrument.56 Alessandro Scarlatti, a contemporary of Handel,

56
Meynell, 9.

18
implemented the trumpet extensively in his arias.57 Handel, however, rarely used the
trumpet in his arias, but chose to utilize the instrument in chorus and instrumental scenes,
which created a martial tone.58
According to Burney, “Già risonar” was “composed in Handel’s fullest and best
style of martial Music.”59 “Già risonar” is in D major, a key often associated with
military scenes during this era, and a key that is associated with warlike or heroic deeds.60
Appropriately, Varo is preparing for battle during this aria. Following a lengthy
ritornello in which the trumpet and oboe echo each other’s melodies, creating terraced
dynamics, the voice enters a cappella. The orchestra re-enters after the vocalist finishes
the opening phrase and begins to sing a sustained pitch, only to briefly drop out again
once the voice resumes its coloratura passage.
Unlike “Nasce al bosco,” where the primary difficulty is managing the large
intervals, the difficulty of “Già risonar” is singing the coloratura. Not all coloratura is
created equal, and a singer must approach each phrase with a clear objective of how he
will effectively manage the specific demands of the coloratura. For example, if the
highest note occurs in the middle of the phrase, the singer might find this easier to sing
than when the highest note occurs at the very end of the phrase. The length of the phrase
can also contribute to the overall difficulty as well. In a shorter phrase, the demands on
the singer’s breath are less. This does not imply that a shorter phrase will automatically
be easier, but the concern of completing the phrase in one breath is reduced.
A typical melismatic phrase in “Già risonar” lasts seven to ten beats and reaches
its climax on the last note or second to last note followed by an octave leap downward.
As demonstrated in Example 4.2, by delaying the climax of the phrase, successfully
executing the passage becomes more difficult on the singer because of breath
management issues. Another complexity to coloratura involves the rhythm and pitch
sequence. Composing a passage in which every beat consists of four sixteenth notes that

57
Ibid., 8.
58
Ibid.
59
Burney, 772.
60
Meynell, 12.

19
are set in a scalar fashion closely resembles many vocal exercises used by teachers, such
as a nine-note scale. However, when a passage combines different rhythms in one
phrase, for instance four sixteenth notes, an eighth and two sixteenth notes, and three
sixteenth notes following a sixteenth rest, the phrase becomes more challenging.
Example 4.2 is an excerpt from “Già risonar” that illustrates the ascending coloratura
that arrives on the highest note of the phrase. The example also shows a variety of pitch
sequences, including short scalar passages, descending thirds, and trill-like
ornamentation. There is a great variety in the rhythmic patterns.

Example 4.2 Handel from Act III, scene x of Ezio 1732, page 10.
Source: The works of George Frederic Handel, volume 80. Published by Gregg Press
Incorporation. Ridgewood, New Jersey, 1965.

Another phrase in “Già risonar” demonstrates how the pitch sequence changes in
the middle of the phrase. In Example 4.3, the melisma begins with a descending motion
where the pitch pattern consists of ascending steps followed by descending thirds. The
phrase quickly changes into a retrograde inversion where the pitch pattern is now made
up of ascending thirds, which are followed by descending steps. Subtle alterations in the
sequence of a melody place an additional responsibility on the singer to learn the

20
irregular sequences accurately. This example also demonstrates another melismatic
phrase where the highest note comes at the end, followed by a descending octave leap.

Example 4.3 Handel from Act III, scene x of Ezio 1732, page 109.
Source: The works of George Frederic Handel, volume 80. Published by Gregg Press
Incorporation. Ridgewood, New Jersey, 1965.

Rather than easing Montagnana into the fold by giving him one, or possibly two
arias with a simple approach, Handel chose to exploit the voice of his new bass with three
arias in Ezio. Two of the three arias place great demands on the singer through extended
coloratura passages and by managing large intervals. Handel expanded the orchestration
beyond four-part strings for both “Nasce al bosco” and “Già risonar.” In “Nasce al
bosco,” Handel added an oboe and in “Già risonar”, he added a trumpet and two oboes.
The overall quality of Montagnana’s music in Ezio is an accurate representation of the
music to follow in Sosarme and Orlando. With regard to the role’s dramatic qualities,
Handel also provided Montagnana the opportunity to portray a character other than a
villain [see Chapter 3, page 13]. As his heroic deeds help steer the plot to a happy
conclusion, Varo is anything but a villain.

21
 CHAPTER 5

Sosarme

The second opera in which Montagnana participated in the premier was Sosarme,
rè di Media, which premiered on February 15, 1732 in the King’s Theater, London.
Burney said Sosarme “ranked amongst his most pleasing theatrical productions.”61
Although the opera was well received in its eleven performances and was revived in
1734, it would not receive another staged revival until 1970.62 Based on Antonio Salvi’s
libretto Dionisio, rè di Portogallo, Sosarme, rè di Media, also known simply as Sosarme,
was altered by either Antonio Rolli or Samuel Humphreys for Handel’s purposes.63 One
of these alterations included the expansion of Montagnana’s role, Altomaro, which
originally only had two arias with neither one taking place in the last act. The libretti of
Antonio Salvi generally had characters that were ordinary people who expressed their
emotions naturally, as opposed to the formal approach of his contemporaries.64 Antonio
Vivaldi, Alessandro Scarlatti, and Antonio Caldara are some of the composers who set
Salvi’s text.65 The main plot line of Sosarme is not centered on a love story, but is
focused on the right of succession to the king’s throne. Montagnana’s character,
Altomaro, effectively guides the action of the plot by furthering the dynastic intrigue.66
Altomaro is a counselor to the Lydian King, Haliate, who is quarrelling with his son,
Argone, over the right of succession. Haliate has transferred the right to his illegitimate
son, Melo, who is Altomaro’s grandson. Altomaro is encouraging the division between

61
Burney, 775.
62
Stanley Sadie, ed., The New Grove Dictionary of Opera, vol. 4 Sosarme, by Anthony Hicks
(New York: Macmillan, 1992), 465.
63
Winton Dean, Essays on Opera (New York: Oxford University Press, 1990), 50.
64
Haendel [Web site], “Sosarme: Commentary and Synopsis,” site address:
http://www.haendel.cz/esosarmecomment.php?thislang=e
65
Stanley Sadie, ed., The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians, vol. 16 Antonio Salvi,
by Robert Lamar Weaver (London: Macmillan Publishers, 1980), 436.
66
Dean, Handel and the Opera Seria, 73.

22
Haliate and his legitimate son, Argone, for obvious reasons. One of Altomaro’s
manipulations is a false report to Argone that his father, King Haliate, desires a duel to
the death, when the king has actually offered peace. Altomaro tries to encourage Melo to
pursue the throne aggressively, but Melo refuses. Through a turn of events, Altomaro’s
ambitions are exposed and he commits suicide and Haliate returns the right of succession
to Argone.
Handel composed three arias for Montagnana in. In addition to the three da capo
arias, all in a major key, Handel wrote ten recitatives for Montagnana. As stated earlier,
the placement of the arias revealed the status of the singer within the company.
Montagnana opens Act III with a recitative and sings the final aria in the opera, which
was quite an honor, particularly for a bass. The spirit of Altomaro’s arias occasionally
seems to contradict the overall personality of this villainous character.67 Although he
tries to convince Melo to pursue the throne in his arias, they do not reflect his ruthless
ambition as demonstrated in other sections of the opera. According to Dean, Handel
abandoned the development of the character of Altomaro in favor of exploiting the voice
of his new basso cantante, which was very much so unlike the “blustering baritone like
Boschi.”68
Altomaro’s first aria, “Fra l’ombre,” was based on an aria from Handel’s serenata
Aci, Galatea e Polifemo, which premiered in Naples in 1708.69 After comparing the two
selections, Winton Dean describes “Fra l’ombre” has having a “texture smoother, tauter,
more contrapuntal, and more sensuous.”70 Upon hearing “Fra l’ombre,” Charles Burney
acknowledged Montagnana’s “depth, power, mellowness and peculiar accuracy of
intonation in hitting distant intervals.”71 Dean has described this aria as having a

67
Winton Dean, Handel’s Dramatic Oratorios and Masques (New York: Oxford University
Press, 1959), 28.
68
Dean, Essays, 71.
69
Hogwood, 97.
70
Dean, Essays, 71.
71
Burney, 773.

23
“sublime spaciousness worthy of Sarastro.”72 This is not the last time a comparison will
be made between Montagnana’s music and Mozart’s Sarastro. “Fra l’ombre” is
supported by a four-part string accompaniment, which is the same accompaniment used
for the Act II aria “Sento il cor che lieto gode.”
Unlike the other two arias, “Fra l’ombre” does not begin with an opening
ritornello. The larghetto aria begins with an E-flat major chord followed by a bass line
moving in eighth notes. The bass line begins with an ascending octave leap, followed by
a descending arpeggio. The voice enters on the second half of the second beat and
descends by thirds, parallel to the bass line. The opening phrase, with its falling motive,
is an indication of how the rest of the aria will develop. The general movement of the
aria is downward and the instrumental lines do not double the vocal lines. The cadential
points have been described as “among the most eccentric ever written.”73 In this aria,
Altomaro compares his grandson, Melo, to a mentally confused butterfly.74 Burney so
admired the aria that he felt it “will ever be admired by judges of composition, and heard
with delight by the public whenever it is executed by a singer whose voice and abilities
shall be equal to those of Montagnana.”75 This excerpt also displays crossing of the
string parts. On several occasions, the violas play a higher melody than the violins.
There are also several instances where Handel made use of a pedal point, which helps
sustain this idea of spaciousness. Dean says the “mood is rather of timeless serenity,”
when he described this aria.

72
Dean, Handel’s Dramatic Oratorios and Masques (New York: Oxford University Press,
1959), 28.
73
Dean, Essays, 71.
74
Dean, Handel and Opera Seria, 73.
75
Burney, 773.

24
Example 5.1 Handel from Act I, scene v of Sosarme 1732, page 19.
Source: The works of George Frederic Handel, volume 81. Published by Gregg Press
Incorporation. Ridgewood, New Jersey, 1965.

“Sento il cor che lieto gode,” Altomaro’s Act II allegro aria in G major,
demonstrates the arrogant quality of his character as he takes pleasure in how his scheme
is taking shape. Musically, this aria is noted for the typical Handelian gestures allotted to

25
Montagnana’s music, which include wide interval leaps, extensive coloratura, and a two-
octave range. The instrumental bass line has a recurring motive of a descending scale
covering one and a half octaves or more, which is illustrated in example 5.2. A
tremolando passage occurs in the lower string parts in the B section, which helps to
musically depict the storms to which Altomaro refers. The text of the B section mentions
how a dreadful fog is already rising from the heart of the tempest that formed it.
Although, Altomaro states in the A section that his heart is happily planning a perfect
deception, the B section is a reference to his scheme taking shape as he achieves his goal.
Example 5.2 shows the final seven measures of the A section, as well as the entire
B section of “Sento il cor che lieto gode.” In the B section, one can see the tremolando
passage in the strings coupled with the independent vocal melody. The next phrase is
played in unison and octave doubling with the vocal melody on the words sosterrà ciò
che formò, il core in grembo sosterrà (from the heart which formed it, I feel my heart).
Handel would often insert unison or octave doubled melodies to emphasize a particular
emotion, conviction, or text. In this case, the text reiterates how the storm, or scheme, is
already forming and how Altomaro is joyously controlling the situation.

26
Example 5.2 Handel from Act II, scene vii of Sosarme 1732, page 58.
Source: The works of George Frederic Handel, volume 81. Published by Gregg Press
Incorporation. Ridgewood, New Jersey, 1965.

27
 Altomaro’s Act III aria, “Tiene Giove in mano il folgore,” is the last aria of the
opera and is a gavotte. The range of the aria is F to d’ and has a number of extended
melismas that are doubled in the accompaniment. The aria is in D major, a key
associated with warlike ambitions and heroic deeds, and Altomaro is preparing for the
duel between King Haliate and Argone. The text compares King Haliate to Jove, also
known as Jupiter, who was the Roman god in charge of issuing justice. The Romans
swore to Jove in their courts of law, which is where the phrase “By Jove” originated.
Altomaro bestows Jove’s powers on King Haliate and encourages him to use his royal
sword to punish his wicked son just as Jove uses his lightning bolt to smite villains. This
straightforward aria is not as difficult as most of the music Handel composed for
Montagnana and does not require additional treatment in this paper.

28
 CHAPTER 6

Orlando

Orlando was the only new opera that was performed during Handel’s 1732-33
season, receiving its premiere on January 27, 1733. It was not well received in its ten
performances, and was not revived until May 28, 1922 in Halle.76 Despite the fact that
Orlando was not revived for 189 years, several people consider the opera to be one of
Handel’s greatest. Andrew Porter calls it “one of Handel’s richest and most rewarding
operas,” and Winton Dean calls it a “masterpiece…musically the richest of all his
operas.”77 Keates went so far as to say Orlando deserves a “high place not only in
Handel’s oeuvre but among eighteenth-century operas in general.”78 Orlando is one of
Handel’s five “magic operas.” These five operas, Orlando, Alcina, Rinaldo, Teseo, and
Amadigi, incorporate magic, witchcraft, sorcery and supernatural elements into the plot.
According to Dean, one reason a composer chose a “magic opera” was the “reduced need
for the plot to assume a rational course.”79 With its blend of magical, pastoral, comic,
tragic, and rational elements, the opera is held in high regard.80
Handel’s Orlando was loosely based on Domenico Scarlatti’s L’Orlando, overo
la gelosa pazzia, performed in Rome in 1711.81 Carlo Sigismondo Capece, the librettist
for Scarlatti’s opera, used Ludovico Ariosto’s epic poem, Orlando furioso, as his source
material. The unidentified librettist for Handel’s Orlando made significant revisions to
Capece’s libretto to accommodate the new bass on Handel’s roster by creating the role of
Zoroastro, a magician. This alteration is dramatically significant, especially in light of
Orlando’s famous mad-scene. Before the creation of Zoroastro, the mad-scene was just a

76
Sadie, New Grove Dictionary of Opera, Orlando, 757.
77
Hogwood, 102.
78
Keates, 161.
79
Dean, The New Grove Handel, 105.
80
Strohm, Essays, 267.
81
Handel, Orlando, L’Oiseau-Lyre, 12.

29
result of Orlando’s jealous love for Angelica. Now, it is a result of Zoroastro’s guidance
and manipulation of circumstances in order to restore Orlando’s mind to the pursuit of
glory rather than love.82 A major point of interest is that Handel and his librettist chose to
give the role of a magician or sorcerer to a male figure, and a bass no less. Orlando is the
only opera in which Handel allowed a bass to control the magic and fate of the other
characters.83 This type of role is usually reserved for a sorceress, which is often
portrayed by the female lead. Keates believes that other than Claudio in Agrippina,
Zoroastro is the “most influential character Handel ever allotted to an operatic bass.”84
Unlike Altomaro in Ezio, Zoroastro is not unscrupulous; on the contrary, he is the
guardian of the opera.85 He protects the characters from their worst fate and rescues them
from danger.86 Zoroastro does not control their decisions, but he does shelter them from
the worst possible outcomes.87 His powers are exhibited in a number of scenes where he
magically appears and changes the scene or delivers a character from a dangerous
situation. Burrows states, “there is something paternalistic about Zoroastro’s
activities.”88 These two characters are quite different in their motivations and actions.
It is also interesting to note that there are many parallels in Mozart’s Die
Zauberflöte with Handel’s Orlando. First, the similarities in the plot include the trials of
a brave lover and a magician who monitors and controls his situation.89 Secondly, the
name of the magician in Handel’s Orlando is Zoroastro, which of course is very similar
to Mozart’s Sarastro. Thirdly, there are similarities in the music of the two roles as well.
Both roles call for a similar two-octave range and require cantabile singing with wide

82
Ibid., 13.
83
Hogwood, 102.
84
Keates, 161.
85
Donald Burrows, Handel (New York: Schirmir, 1994), 218.
86
Ibid.
87
Ibid.
88
Ibid.
89
Dean, Handel and Opera Seria, 91.

30
leaps.90 Lang notes that Zoroastro is “dignified, noble, and above the fray, like – well,
like his namesake, Sarastro,”91 and Strohm states that Zoroastro “clearly foreshadows
Schikaneder’s Sarastro, particularly in his cult of ‘reason’.”92
Montagnana was given three remarkable arias, which is the same number sung by
Senesino, the great castrato who premiered the title character. In addition to the arias,
Montagnana received thirteen recitatives and four of them were accompanied recitatives.
Hugo Meynell calls Montagnana’s three arias the “great stable pillars supporting the
whole structure; emotionally, they are islands of serenity and strength in the emotional
turmoil of the opera as a whole.”93 Several sources, including Keates and Lang, consider
Montagnana’s first entrance, which begins the opera, as a fourth aria, while others
consider it an extended accompanied recitative.94 Strohm goes so far as to call it a
prologue.95
In this opening scene, “Gieroglifici eterni,” Zoroastro is contemplating Orlando’s
fate. In order to determine the path Orlando will choose, Zoroastro is studying the stars.
Orlando’s choices include pursuing glory or love, and Zoroastro contemplates how he
will restore Orlando’s mind once he pursues love’s enticements. This scene immediately
establishes Zoroastro as the moderator and commentator of the show. Hogwood states,
“there is no operatic opening more sublime than his invocation to the stars,” and Burney
considered it an aria parlante with “a wild grandeur in it of a very uncommon kind.”96
Again, it is important to note the placement of arias and who begins and ends the opera
and individual acts. In Ezio and Sosarme, Montagnana had the final aria of the opera,
and in Orlando he gets the first aria of the opera. Even if all scholars do not universally

90
Dean, Handel and Opera Seria, 91.
91
Lang, 242.
92
Strohm, Essays, 263.
93
Meynell, 170.
94
Keates 162; Lang 241.
95
Strohm, Essays, 265.
96
Hogwood, 103; Burney, 777.

31
consider this first entrance an aria, it is an extended solo that helps establish the
character’s influence on the premise of the drama.
Composed in the key of B minor, “Gieroglifici eterni” follows an overture
composed in F-sharp minor, the only overture Handel ever composed in that key. This
key relationship immediately establishes Zoroastro’s stance against Amor, later presented
in the key of F major. Hugo Meynell suggests an emotional association with certain
keys. According to Meynell, Handel used the keys of F minor, F-sharp minor, and B-flat
minor to portray fear, despair and sorrow.97 These “extreme keys” would later be
followed by the bright keys of B-flat major, C major, G major, or D major upon the hero
or heroine’s restoration.98 In the case of Orlando’s overture, Meynell believes the key of
F-sharp minor establishes an anxious tone, and the sharp keys that open the opera
“represent worry and uncertainty.”99 Furthermore, Handel uses the key of F-sharp minor
when Orlando expresses his uncertainty when choosing between love and glory, even
though Zoroastro has admonished him to pursue glory. In addition, when Orlando
contemplates suicide, Handel once again uses the key of F-sharp minor.
Example 6.1 is an excerpt of “Gieroglifici eterni” that demonstrates Handel’s
penchant for wide intervals when composing for Montagnana. Like “Già risonar” from
Ezio, most of the phrases in “Gieroglifici eterni” end with a descending octave leap. The
“detached unaccompanied quavers of the violins” represent the glittering stars on which
Zoroastro is contemplating, as suggested by Meynell.100 The aria was composed for a
four-part string accompaniment with a vocal range that is similar to Montagnana’s other
arias. The range of “Gieroglifici eterni” is F# - d’.

97
Meynell, 10.
98
Ibid.
99
Ibid., 170.
100
Meynell, 170.

32
Example 6.1. Handel from Act I, scene i of Orlando 1733, page 5.
Source: The works of George Frederic Handel, volume 82. Published by Gregg Press
Incorporation. Ridgewood, New Jersey, 1965.

Even if Zoroastro’s first entrance is considered an accompanied recitative,

Montagnana still received the first aria of the opera. “Lascia Amor, e siegui Marte,”
Zoroastro’s next aria, occurs in the following scene after a secco recitative with Orlando.

33
This means Handel either gave Montagnana the first two arias of the evening, or the first
extended solo, in the form of an accompanied recitative or prologue, and the first aria.
Regardless, Montagnana’s lofty status in Handel’s company was clearly established.
In “Lascia Amor, e siegui Marte,” Zoroastro tells Orlando to pursue Mars, the god
of glory and war, and to reject Amor, the god of love, with his many temptations. This is
another aria where Handel makes use of allegorical images. Zoroastro waves his wand
and an image of the many heroes who have surrendered to the powers of Amor appear.
Zoroastro temporarily persuades Orlando to follow Mars. The aria is in the key of B-flat
major, considered by Meynell a “heroic key” that demonstrates “vigour and
confidence.”101 B-flat major is the same key that is used in the final chorus of the opera
when the participants celebrate Orlando’s mental restoration and his re-dedication to
follow Mars. “Lascia Amor, e siegui Marte” is composed for a seven-part orchestra,
calling for first and second oboes, bassoons, and four-part strings. Burney describes the
aria as “extremely spirited, and rich in harmony and contrivance.”102 Example 6.2 shows
the seven-part orchestra and how the vocal melody is paired in thirds with the oboes. The
excerpt also shows the antiphonal effect utilized by Handel between the woodwinds and
the upper strings, a compositional technique frequently employed in this aria. At the end
of the excerpt, all the instruments and voice come together for a climactic coloratura
phrase on the word combatti (fight). All the instruments are unison, with the exception of
the oboes, which are playing a third higher.

101
Meynell, 170.
102
Burney, 777.

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Example 6.2. Handel from Act I, scene ii of Orlando 1733, page 9.
Source: The works of George Frederic Handel, volume 82. Published by Gregg Press
Incorporation. Ridgewood, New Jersey, 1965.

35
Example 6.2. (continued)

Zoroastro’s next aria, “Tra caligini profonde,” occurs in Act II. In the aria,
Zoroastro warns Angelica and Medoro of the dangers that await lovers who are
consumed with careless passions. Strohm says this aria carries the “official motto” of the
opera when Zoroastro admonishes the characters by saying “profound darkness errs our
mind if guided by the blind god…. if reason does not provide the light.”103 Zoroastro’s

103
Strohm, Essays, 265.

36
wisdom manifests itself when he informs them that their careless actions will result in
Orlando’s rage against them. The aria contains some interesting musical choices by
Handel. With extensive use of hemiola, there is an uncertainty to the meter, as the aria
seems to fluctuate between 3/2 and 3/4. A chaconne, or ciacona, bass line is incorporated
in this aria as well. A chaconne is a movement in a stately tempo in triple meter that is
generally grouped into four-measure phrases where the melody begins on the second beat
of the measure.104 A chaconne usually extends downward from tonic to dominant and
can use the circle of fifths. These musical choices seem out of the ordinary for bass arias.
Burney notes, “an admirable base [sic] song for Montagnana, in a style different from
most of his celebrated songs for a base [sic] voice.”105 When addressing the ciacona bass
used in this aria, Strohm makes yet another reference to Mozart’s Sarastro by saying
ciacona bass progressions were used to represent Sarastro and his dominion.106
The musical qualities discussed above are readily apparent in “Tra caligini
profonde.” The duration of the phrases usually last four measures, and they usually begin
on beat two. Unlike many of Montagnana’s other arias, the lower strings in “Tra caligini
profonde” usually double the melody. The overall range of the aria is F# - e’. Example
6.3 is an excerpt of the beginning of the aria. The aforementioned musical points are
evident in this example, as well as the falling thirds that occur in both the accompaniment
and the vocal melody. Meynell suggests that these falling thirds represent the stumbling
of those who follow Amor, the aforementioned “blind god.”107

104
Donald Jay Grout and Claude V. Palisca, A History of Western Music, 4th ed. (New York: W.
W. Norton & Co., 1988), 373.
105
Burney, 778.
106
Strohm, Essays, 288.
107
Meynell, 171.

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Example 6.3. Handel from Act II, scene iv of Orlando 1733, page 53.
Source: The works of George Frederic Handel, volume 82. Published by Gregg Press
Incorporation. Ridgewood, New Jersey, 1965.

38
 “Sorge infausta una procella” has long been considered one of Handel’s great
arias for the bass voice. Burney calls it, “Handel’s grandest style of writing for a base
[sic] voice.”108 It was actually interpolated in Israel in Egypt during the 19th-century
under the title “Wave on wave congeal’d with wonder.”109 The aria contains an
abundance of coloratura passages, yet the manuscript score has an additional eighteen
measures of excessive fioratura, which are typically not performed and are not published
in the Bärenreiter vocal score or the Chrysander orchestra score.110 Handel later
shortened the aria to its current state.
“Sorge infausta una procella” is considered a simile aria because of the
association made between Orlando and the sea, stars, and storms. A simile aria is defined
as an aria in which the text compares a person’s situation or thoughts with some natural
occurrence in the world.111 The music can also make an association with the text as well.
Zoroastro proclaims that the rays of a star, representing Orlando, will penetrate through
the storms that cover the sky and seas to gladden every heart. Zoroastro goes on to say
that the brave, Orlando, may err, but he will soon be restored for his intended pursuit of
glory.
One musical association with the text occurs on the words sorge infausta (arise
unhappy), where Handel outlines a diminished chord. One measure later, the same words
are used on a descending minor seventh. Another descending minor seventh is used on
the words che oscurar (that darkens). The roulade used on the word mare (sea) has a
swelling effect as it incrementally ascends like storm waters. The penultimate phrase of
the A section has a stepwise descending scale on the words splende fausta poi la stella,
ch’ogni cor (then the star shines happiness on every heart), representing the rays of the
star, Orlando, shining down on everyone’s hearts.

108
Burney, 779.
109
Sadie, The New Grove Dictionary of Opera, Orlando, 758.
110
Hogwood, 102.
111
Stanley Sadie, ed., The New Grove Dictionary of Opera, vol. 4 simile aria, by Jack Westrup
(New York: Macmillan Press, 1992), 380.

39
 Another point of interest, musically speaking, is the active viola part. It is quite
prominent and is often used antiphonally with the violin part or in unison with the
coloratura of the vocal part. Example 6.4 is an excerpt from “Sorge infausta una
procella.” The aforementioned descending sevenths, coloratura on mare, and stepwise
descending scale on splende fausta poi la stella, ch’ogni cor is illustrated, as well as the
active viola part, which is notated on the third stave.

Example 6.4. Handel from Act III, scene iii of Orlando 1733, page 90.
Source: The works of George Frederic Handel, volume82. Published by Gregg Press
Incorporation. Ridgewood, New Jersey, 1965.

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 CHAPTER 7

Conclusion

The music of the three roles that Handel wrote for Antonio Montagnana
challenges the vocalist by using extended scalar melismas, irregularly patterned
melismas, slow sustained passages, intervals that extend beyond one octave, and a vocal
range that spans two-octaves. In addition, Montagnana’s artistic gifts extended beyond
his vocal abilities. Unlike the music written for his predecessor, Giuseppe Maria
Boschi, Montagnana’s vocal line is often not doubled by the orchestra. He was clearly a
gifted musician as evidenced by the independent vocal lines and various meters and tempi
used in his arias.
Another advancement in Handel’s treatment of the bass voice once Montagnana
arrived is shown in the expansion of the dramatic characterization given to the bass roles
written for him. Unlike Giuseppe Maria Boschi’s monotonous dramatic
characterizations, Montagnana’s three roles illustrate his versatility as an actor. Varo, in
Ezio, is a commoner with pastoral music, yet has enough courage to disobey the king in
order to contribute to a greater cause. His decisions help steer the opera toward a
successful conclusion. Altomaro, in Sosarme, could not be more different. This
treacherous character is aware of the pain and confusion he is causing the royal family
and his grandson, yet shows no sign of remorse as he manipulates various situations for
his own gain. He must manufacture trust with several characters in order for them to
believe and follow his advice, making this villain quite perceptive and persuasive. His
selfishness ultimately leads to his suicide. Orlando’s Zoroastro is perhaps the most
difficult role to portray successfully. He is clearly the protector of the cast of characters,
whose wisdom and reason guides the action of the plot. Zoroastro must call upon his
magical powers on several occasions, but those occurrences are always selfless in nature.
He longs for unity and peace, ironic for someone who is urging Orlando to follow Mars.
The dignified, god-like stature of the character is quite different from a prefect or the
counselor of a king.

41
 The placement of Antonio Montagnana’s arias within the operas and the number
of arias he received in each opera, often equaling the title character, clearly established
his status in Handel’s company. The adjustments made in the source material to
accommodate his presence in the drama also speaks volumes, as demonstrated when a
role was created for him in Orlando. Montagnana’s contribution to Handel’s music was
short-lived, lasting only nineteen months, but the music composed to the strengths of his
abilities left a profound impact on the bass literature. Handel would go on to compose
many great arias for the bass voice in his operas and sacred oratorios, but the selections
composed for Montagnana contain a level of difficulty not often found in his other
literature. When one factors in the wide vocal range, difficult coloratura, large leaps, and
independent vocal line, the music composed for Antonio Montagnana requires a singer
who possesses a great security in his vocal technique, outstanding musical ability, and
significant breadth as an actor.

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 BIBLIOGRAPHY

Books:
Abraham, Gerald. Handel: A Symposium. New York: Oxford University Press, 1969.

Best, Terrence, ed. Handel Collections and Their History. New York: Oxford University
Press, 1993.

Burney, Charles. A General History of Music, vol. 2. New York, Harcourt, Brace, and
Company, 1935.

Burrows, Donald. Handel. New York: Schirmer, 1994.

Burrows, Donald, ed. The Cambridge Companion to Handel. New York: Cambridge
University Press, 1997.

Burrows, Donald and Rosemary Dunhill. Music and Theatre in Handel’s World: The
Family Papers of James Harris 1732-1780. New York: Oxford University Press,
2002.

Burrows, Donald and Martha Ronish. A Catalogue of Handel’s Musical Autographs.

Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1994.

Colles, H. C., ed., Grove’s Dictionary of Music and Musicians, 3rd edition, vol. 1,
Giuseppe Boschi, by Julian Marshall. New York: Macmillan company, 1941.

Dean, Winton. Essays on Opera. New York: Oxford University Press, 1990.

________. Handel and the Opera Seria. Berkeley: University of California Press,
1969.

________. Handel’s Dramatic Oratorios and Masques. New York: Oxford

University Press, 1959.

Dean, Winton and Anthony Hicks. The New Grove Handel. New York: W. W. Norton,
1983.

Dean, Winton and John Merrill Knapp. Handel’s Operas 1704-1726. New York:
Clarendon Press, 1987.

Flower, Newman. George Frideric Handel: His Personality and His Times. New York:
Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1948.

Grout, Donald Jay and Claude V. Palisca. A History of Western Music, 4th ed. New York:
W. W. Norton & Co., 1988.

43
Haynes, Bruce. A History of Performing Pitch: The Story of “A.” Lanham, Maryland:
Scarecrow Press, Inc., 2002.

Hogwood, Christopher. Handel. New York: Thames and Hudson, 1984.

Hogwood, Christopher and Richard Luckett, ed. Music in Eighteenth-Century England:

Essays in Memory of Charles Cudworth. New York: Cambridge University
Press, 1983.

Hurley, David Ross. Handel’s Muse: Patterns of Creation in His Oratorios and Musical
Dramas, 1743-1751. New York: Oxford University Press, 2001.

Keates, Jonathan. Handel: The Man and His Music. New York: St. Martin’s Press,
1985.

Kivy, Peter. The Possessor and the Possessed: Handel, Mozart, Beethoven, and the Idea
of the Musical Genius. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 2001.

Landon, H. C. Robbins. Handel and His World. London: Weidenfeld and Nicolson,
1984.

Lang, Paul Henry. George Frideric Handel. New York: W. W. Norton & Co., 1966.

LaRue, C. Steven. Handel and His Singers: The Creation of the Royal Academy Operas
1720-1728. New York: Oxford University Press, 1995.

Mainwaring, John. Memoirs of the Life of the Late George Frideric Handel. Amsterdam,
F. A. M. Knuf, 1964.

Meynell, Hugo. The Art of Handel’s Operas. Lewiston, NY: Edwin Mellen Press, 1986.

Myers, Robert Manson. Early Moral Criticism of Handelian Oratorio. Williamsburg,

VA: Manson Park Press, 1947.

Müller, Erich H., ed. The Letters and Writings of George Frideric Handel. New York:
Books for libraries press, 1935.

Parker, Mary Ann. G. F. Handel: A Guide to Research. New York: Routledge, 2005.

Sadie, Stanley and Anthony Hicks, ed. Handel Tercentenary Collection. Ann Arbor:
UMI Research Press, 1987.

Sadie, Stanley, ed., The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians, vol. 16, Antonio
Salvi by Robert Lamar Weaver. London: Macmillan Publishers, 1980.

44
Sadie, Stanley, ed., The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians, vol. 4, Bass (ii),
by Owen Jander. London: Macmillan Publishers, 1980.

Sadie, Stanley, ed., The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians, vol. 4,
Giuseppe Maria Boschi, by Winton Dean. New York: Macmillan, 2001.

Sadie, Stanley, ed., The New Grove Dictionary of Opera, vol. 2, Ezio, by Anthony
Hicks. New York: Macmillan Press, 1992.

Sadie, Stanley, ed., The New Grove Dictionary of Opera, vol. 3, Orlando, by Anthony
Hicks. New York: Macmillan Press, 1992.

Sadie, Stanley, ed., The New Grove Dictionary of Opera, vol. 4, simile aria, by Jack
Westrup. New York: Macmillan Press, 1992.

Smith, Ruth. Handel’s Oratorios and Eighteenth-Century Thought. New York:

Cambridge University Press, 1995.

Sternfeld, F.W., Nigel Fortune, and Edward Olleson, ed. Essays on Opera and English
Music: In Honour of Sir Jack Westrup. Oxford: Blackwell, 1975.

Strohm, Reinhard. Dramma per musica: Italian opera seria of the 18th Century. New
Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 1997.

________. Essays on Handel and Italian Opera. Cambridge: Cambridge University

Press, 1985.

Young, Percy M. The Oratorios of Handel. London: Dennis Dobson Ltd., 1949.

Articles:
Brett, Philip and George Haggerty. “Handel and the Sentimental: The Case of ‘Athalia.’”
Music and Letters 68 (1987): 112-127.

Casselman, Eugene. “Handel’s Singers: An Appraisal.” Journal of Singing 24 (February

1968): 18.

Cummings, Graham. “Handel’s Compositional Methods in the London Operas of the

1730’s, and the Unusual Case of ‘Poro, Re’ dell’Indie’ (1731).” Music and
Letters 79:3 (August 1998): 346-367.

Doscher, Barbara M. “George Frideric Handel: He Wrote for Specific Voices.” Journal
of Singing 52 (September 1995): 33-36.

“Handel’s Songs and Singers.” Music and Letters 16 (1935): 200-207.

45
Hume, Robert D. “Handel and Opera Management in London in the 1730’s.” Music and
Letters 67:4 (October 1986): 347-362.

Johnstone, H. Diack. “Handel at Oxford in 1733.” Early Music 31:2 (May 2003): 248-
261.

Knapp, John Merrill. “Handel, The Royal Academy of Music, and its First Opera Season
in London (1720).” Musical Quarterly 45 (1959): 145-167.

Myers, Robert Manson. “Mrs. Delany: An Eighteenth-Century Handelian.” Musical

Quarterly 32 (1946): 12-36.

Dissertations:
Crawford, Leneida Marie. “The Performance of Contrasting Roles in Selected Works of
G. F. Handel: Otho in ‘Agrippina,’ Dejanira in ‘Hercules,’ Daniel in
‘Belshazzar.’” D.M.A. diss., University of Maryland College Park, 1996.

Hurley, David Ross. “Handel’s Compositional Process: A Study of Selected Oratorios.”

Ph.D. diss., The University of Chicago, 1991.

LaRue, Carl Steven. “The Composer’s Choice: Aspects of Compositional Context and
Creative Process in Selected Operas from Handel’s Royal Academy Period.”
Ph.D. diss., The University of Chicago, 1990.

Taylor, Carole Mia. “Italian Operagoing in London, 1700-1745.” Ph.D. diss., Syracuse
University, 1991.

Tellez, Carmen Helena. “Musical Form and Dramatic Concept in Handel’s ‘Athalia.’”
D.M. diss., Indiana University, 1989.

Compact Discs:
Handel, George Frideric. Admeto. Virgin Classics CDMC 7243 5 61369 2 2, 1998.
Compact Disc.

________. Arias for Montagnana. Harmonia Mundi, HMU 907016 1990. Compact Disc.

________. Athalia. Naxos of America 8.554364, 1998. Compact Disc.

________. Deborah. Hyperion CDA66841, 1993. Compact Disc.

________. Ezio. Vox Classics VOX2 7503, 1995. Compact Disc.

________. Orlando. Erato 0630-14636-2, 1996. Compact Disc.

________. Orlando. L’Oiseau-Lyre 430-845-2, 1991. Compact Disc.

46
________. Poro. Opus 111 OPS 30-113, 1994. Compact Disc

________. Sosarme. Newport Classic NPD 85575, 1994. Compact Disc.

________. Tamerlano. Sony Classical SM3K 37893, 1997. Compact Disc.

Musical scores:
Chrysander, Friedrich, ed. The Works of George Frederic Handel, Vol. 69, Tamerlano.
Ridgewood, N. J.: Gregg Press, 1965.

________. The Works of George Frederic Handel, Vol. 73, Admeto. Ridgewood, N. J.:
Gregg Press, 1965.

________. The Works of George Frederic Handel, Vol. 79, Poro. Ridgewood, N. J.:
Gregg Press, 1965.

________. The Works of George Frederic Handel, Vol. 80, Ezio. Ridgewood, N. J.:
Gregg Press, 1965.

________. The Works of George Frederic Handel, Vol. 81, Sosarme. Ridgewood, N. J.:
Gregg Press, 1965.

________. The Works of George Frederic Handel, Vol. 82, Orlando. Ridgewood, N. J.:
Gregg Press, 1965.

Handel, George Frideric. Esther. New York: Bärenreiter, 2002.

________. Ezio. New York: Kalmus, 1960.

________. Orlando. New York: Bärenreiter, 2001.

________. Tamerlano. New York: Bärenreiter, 2001.

Web sites:
Baroque Opera. [Web site] James Sanderson. “Pietro Metastasio: Life of the 18th
Century Poet and Librettist.” Site address:
http://baroqueopera.com/shared/article.php?article_ID=15&ref=baroqueopera

Haendel. [Web site] “Sosarme: Commentary and Synopsis,” site address:

http://www.haendel.cz/esosarmecomment.php?thislang=e

47
 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH

A native Texan, Jason Lester received a Bachelor of Music Education from

Baylor University, a Master of Music in vocal performance from the University of
Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music, and a Doctor of Music in vocal performance
from Florida State University. Mr. Lester has performed over twenty operatic roles with
organizations such as Glimmerglass Opera, Berkshire Opera, Opera in the Heights, Opera
Theater of Lucca, and Florida State Opera. His repertoire includes Colline in La Bohème,
Raimondo Bidebent in Lucia di Lammermoor, Don Basilio in Il barbiere di Siviglia, Don
Inigo Gomez in L’heure Espagnole, Méphistophélès in Faust, Melisso in Alcina, and
Sarastro in Die Zauberflöte, to name a few. Mr. Lester currently lives in Houston with
his wife where he teaches applied voice lessons, class voice, vocal song literature, and
music appreciation.

48