Festival Lecture

The stage sets of Handel’s early London operas as affective soulscapes

The power of many of the protagonists in Italian operas of the first half of the eighteenth century was often visually expressed in lavish sets and elaborate costumes, which provided a visual counterpart to the musical opulence of the performances. However, little is known about the stage design of most of Handel's London operas.

This probably explains why the stage sets described in his libretti are usually given little attention. However, they were by no means unimportant to Handel and his librettists, as evidenced by the significant changes made time and again in the libretti: In Tamerlano, the oppressive isolation of the palace of the powerful Tartar ruler is emphasized by the omission of any outdoor spaces close to nature.

The lecture will search for traces of set descriptions in Handel's early London operas and question their interrelationship with the respective plots and their musical design. It will show that the sets can often be understood as reflecting the inner states of the dramatis personae and in many ways correspond to the musical soulscapes.