Florindo
Encyclopedia
Der beglückte Florindo is an opera
composed by Handel
at the request of Reinhard Keiser
, the manager of the Hamburg Opera. It was first performed (after Handel had left for Italy) at the Theater am Gänsemarkt in January 1708. It was probably directed from the harpsichord
by Christoph Graupner
.
The opera was the first part of a double opera, with the second part, Die verwandelte Daphne, intended to be performed on the following evening. Keiser inserted a play in low German, called die lustige Hochzeit, into the opera, afraid that the audience would get tired otherwise. Handel was not pleased, according to Romain Rolland
. Only fragments of the score survive, but a copy of the libretto exists in the Library of Congress
.
The libretto was by Hinrich Hinsch, a lawyer, who also wrote the text for Keiser's first opera in Hamburg: Mahumet II (1696), based on the life of Mehmet II. Hinsch had been writing librettos since 1681. He died in 1712.
Opera
Opera is an art form in which singers and musicians perform a dramatic work combining text and musical score, usually in a theatrical setting. Opera incorporates many of the elements of spoken theatre, such as acting, scenery, and costumes and sometimes includes dance...
composed by Handel
HANDEL
HANDEL was the code-name for the UK's National Attack Warning System in the Cold War. It consisted of a small console consisting of two microphones, lights and gauges. The reason behind this was to provide a back-up if anything failed....
at the request of Reinhard Keiser
Reinhard Keiser
Reinhard Keiser was a popular German opera composer based in Hamburg. He wrote over a hundred operas, and in 1745 Johann Adolph Scheibe considered him an equal to Johann Kuhnau, George Frideric Handel and Georg Philipp Telemann , but his work was largely forgotten for many...
, the manager of the Hamburg Opera. It was first performed (after Handel had left for Italy) at the Theater am Gänsemarkt in January 1708. It was probably directed from the harpsichord
Harpsichord
A harpsichord is a musical instrument played by means of a keyboard. It produces sound by plucking a string when a key is pressed.In the narrow sense, "harpsichord" designates only the large wing-shaped instruments in which the strings are perpendicular to the keyboard...
by Christoph Graupner
Christoph Graupner
Christoph Graupner was a German harpsichordist and composer of high Baroque music who lived and worked at the same time as Johann Sebastian Bach, Georg Philipp Telemann and George Frideric Handel.-Graupner's life:Born in Hartmannsdorf near Kirchberg in Saxony, Graupner received his first musical...
.
The opera was the first part of a double opera, with the second part, Die verwandelte Daphne, intended to be performed on the following evening. Keiser inserted a play in low German, called die lustige Hochzeit, into the opera, afraid that the audience would get tired otherwise. Handel was not pleased, according to Romain Rolland
Romain Rolland
Romain Rolland was a French dramatist, novelist, essayist, art historian and mystic who was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1915.-Biography:...
. Only fragments of the score survive, but a copy of the libretto exists in the Library of Congress
Library of Congress
The Library of Congress is the research library of the United States Congress, de facto national library of the United States, and the oldest federal cultural institution in the United States. Located in three buildings in Washington, D.C., it is the largest library in the world by shelf space and...
.
The libretto was by Hinrich Hinsch, a lawyer, who also wrote the text for Keiser's first opera in Hamburg: Mahumet II (1696), based on the life of Mehmet II. Hinsch had been writing librettos since 1681. He died in 1712.