Roman Friendships and Rivalries

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Study trip or promotional tour? Handel’s stay in Italy was certainly both. He had no teacher in Italy, but there is no doubt that Handel learned much of importance: the latest trends in Italian music, the very latest cantatas and operas, the oratorio – a whole new genre for a Protestant from Central Germany back then – and two gran signori, both one generation older and famous throughout Europe: Arcangelo Corelli and Alessandro Scarlatti. For the performance of his Resurrezione in 1708, Handel collaborated with Corelli as his concertmaster. He may never have met Scarlatti in person, but there is no doubt he heard his music. Just 23 years old, he competed openly with both: in one aria of his oratorio, he refers to a movement from Corelli’s Violin Sonatas Op. 5; Handel’s Resurrezione was performed in Rome a few days after Scarlatti’s oratorio Colpa, Pentimento e Grazia. Now there’s a chance to compare them – just like then. They will be performed by a small group of musicians from the legendary Concerto Italiano under the direction of Rinaldo Alessandrini.