438 HANDEL ed to the third act, composed by Handel, lie | and his enterprise were nevertheless subjected to continued hostility. His subsequent operas composed for the royal academy are : Flori- dantc, Dec. 9, 1721; Ottone, Jan. 12, 1723; Flavio and Oiulio Cesar e, 1723; Tamerla- no, 1724; Rodelinda, 1725; Scipione, 1726; Alessandro, May 7, 1726 ; Admeto, 1727; Si- roe (Cyrus), 1728; Tolommeo, 1728. Twelve operas and a transcendent third act of anoth- er, together with his labors as royal chapel- master and director of the opera, would seem to be enough for the productiveness of eight years ; but in 1727 he had added to the list of his minor works the noble anthems for the coronation of George II. But with the production of Tolommeo in 1728, the 50,000 subscription was exhausted, and the royal academy was bankrupt. Handel had now saved 10,000, and determined to risk it in the attempt to carry on an enterprise in which the nobility had signally failed. He therefore formed a partnership for three years with Heidegger of the Haymarket theatre ; vis- ited Germany, thence went on to Italy, taking his old friend and monitor Abbe" Steffani with him, and returned to London with an ex- cellent company in June, 1729. The season opened Dec. 2. For this enterprise Handel's operatic works were: Lotario, Dec. 2, 1729; Partenope, Feb. 24, 1730 ; Poro, Feb. 2, 1731 ; Ezio, Jan. 25, 1732 ; Sosarme, Feb. 15, 1732 ; Orlando, Jan. 27, 1733 ; Ariadne, Jan. 26, 1734; Parnasso infesta (serenata partly new), March 13, 1734; Pastor fido (completely re- arranged), June 4, 1734. In addition to his operatic labors, during this time he entered upon a path peculiarly his own. In conse- quence of certain semi-public performances of his oratorio " Esther," for the benefit of per- sons who had surreptitiously obtained a copy of the score, Handel, in Lent, 1732, u by his majesty's command " brought it upon the stage of the Haymarket (without action of course), having thoroughly revised it and made several additions. The king and all the royal family were present. It was given five times, and proved a powerful spur to Handel in that di- rection in which he stands above all other composers. The proprietors of the English opera, too, had recently brought out his " Acis and Galatea" with action, which led him to pro- duce it also with large additions from his Ital- ian serenata on the same subject, making of it a medley of both languages. The success of u Esther " induced him to try oratorio again, and he prepared " Deborah," which was given March 17, 1733. In July he conducted the performance of his third English oratorio, u Athaliah," at Oxford. During the same season the conduct of Senesino, his principal singer, was such that Handel discharged him ; and as the composer refused to recall him, a coalition was formed against him, and a rival opera established, with Senesino, Farinelli, and Cuzzoni as principal vocalists, and Porpora and Arrigoni as composers. Handel posted to Italy, engaged a good troupe, and opened the season of 1734 with three operas, the music of which was but arranged with new recitatives by him : Semiramide, Cajo Fdbrizio, and Ar- lace. The season ended with the Pastor fido, and with it Handel's engagements with Heideg- ger. Oct. 5, 1734, he opened at Lincoln's Inn fields with revivals of Ariadne and Pastor fido, but soon removed to Covent Garden. The first work, mostly original, was Terpsicore, a sort of ballet interspersed with vocal music, fol- lowed by Ariodante, an opera, Jan. 8, 1735. During Lent he gave his three oratorios with organ concertos between the acts, and was ready on April 16 with another opera, Alcina. In the autumn Carestini, his first singer, was called by previous engagements to Italy, and during the succeeding winter Handel was forced to depend upon performances of " Es- ther " and " Acis and Galatea," with one new work, his magnificent music to Dryden's " Alexander's Feast." But succeeding in en- gaging Conti, a new singer of high reputation, he returned again to opera, producing Ata- lanta, May 12, 1736; Arminio, Jan. 12, 1737; Giustino, Feb. 16, 1737; and Berenice, May 18, 1737. Handel had tried every honorable means to achieve success. He had given old favorite operas revised, and new ones with extraordinary scenic effects; had prepared a pasticcio or two from the most popular music of his earlier works; had resorted to oratorio, and to the performance of concerts upon harpsichord and organ, wherein he was ac- knowledged by all to be absolutely without a rival. But London, which had not supported a single exotic opera, could not now, when the novelty was exhausted, encourage two; and with the failure of the Berenice his 10,000 were at an end, and his enemies had the satis- faction of having at length crushed him. But they too were exhausted. Handel closed his theatre in May ; they followed in September. Farinelli had deserted them, and they closed their accounts with a loss of 12,000. Before Handel finally gave way to the pressure against him, his health had failed, and soon after the catastrophe an attack of paralysis prostrated him. His friends persuaded him to visit Aix- la-Chapelle; and once there his constitution triumphed ; in six weeks he was restored, and returned to London to face his creditors and engage in gigantic labors to discharge his debts. On Nov. 1 he was again in London; on the 15th he began the opera Faramondo, for the younger Heidegger ; on the 20th Queen Caroline died, and the king ordered a funeral anthem, which was completed in five days, one of Handel's grandest and most touching works ; he then took up the opera again, and on Dec. 24 it was completed. Faramondo was produced in January, 1738, but was unpopular. On Feb. 25 Alessandro Severo followed, ar- ranged from his other works, and on April 15 Serse (Xerxes), a new work. The great pub j
