George Frideric Handel, Ariodante

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The first production of

Ariodante

in 1735 opened a new phase of Handel’s opera-writing career. The sensational success of John Gay’s parody of Italian opera,

The Beggar’s Opera

of 1728, had been allowed, by some, to have had a greater impact on the musical life of London than it deserved. Alexander Pope, in a footnote to his 1729 Variorum edition of the

Dunciad

, celebrated the success of his friend’s play, claiming: “

it drove out of England the Italian Opera, which had carry’d all before it for ten years

” (Pope, 190). By 1735 Pope had had to change his annotation to read: “it drove out of

England

for that season the

Italian Opera

” (Pope, 190). The myth that Handel rather turned away from Italian opera after 1728 still has some currency. Yvonne Noble, for instance, argues…

1619 words

Citation: Alsop, Derek . "Ariodante". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 29 June 2012 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=34240, accessed 19 March 2024.]

34240 Ariodante 3 Historical context notes are intended to give basic and preliminary information on a topic. In some cases they will be expanded into longer entries as the Literary Encyclopedia evolves.

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