For one of the few brand-new opera librettos that the composer set, the poet Paolo Rolli drew on a complexity of Italian literary traditions of an often-revived ancient Greek narrative featuring gender swap, draft-dodging, doomed love and futile heroism.
This one-day symposium will include a research seminar, several scholarly papers, a lecture recital by musicians whose forthcoming staged production is in preparation, and a round table discussion. These international contributors will all pay special attention to text-music relationships and the circumstances around the production of Handel’s last Italian opera for the London stage.
This study day, in partnership with the Gerald Coke Handel Collection, is also a timely memorial to the musicologist and harpsichordist Terence Best (d. 10 January 2024), a founding council member of The Handel Institute and editor of Deidamia for the Hallische Händel-Ausgabe.
Programme
Research Seminar
Colin Timms and Reinhard Strohm (The Handel Institute): ‘Rolli’s and Handel’s Deidamia: Poetry and Music’
Talks
Francesca Menchelli-Buttini (Conservatorio di Pesaro): ‘Achille in Sciro: Rolli’s and Metastasio’s Versions of the Myth’
Matthew Gardner (The Handel Institute / University of Tübingen): ‘The 1741 Cast of Deidamia – Handel and his Singers’
Keynote lecture
Carlo Caruso (Università degli Studi di Siena): ‘Italophilia in Early Eighteenth-Century England: Literature, Book Collecting, Opera’
Lecture Recital
Madeline Claire de Berrié (Ensemble Grand Siècle): Music from Deidamia
Round Table
‘Handel’s Deidamia: Myth, Literature, Music’
Attendance at the Study Day is entirely free of charge and open to anyone, but please note that advance registration is obligatory. The deadline for booking online is Sunday 17 November 2024, although earlier booking is advised because space in the venue is fixed to 30 participants. If you wish to join us for lunch, the inclusive cost of £20 must be paid when you register to attend the event.
If you are studying in further or higher education, or an early career academic, and based outside London or abroad, you may apply to The Handel Institute for a limited number of bursaries offering help with travel expenses. The deadline for applications is 15 September 2024.