Handel - Atalanta

Atalanta is an opera in three acts by George Frideric Handel composed in 1736. It is based upon the mythological female athlete, Atalanta, the libretto (which is in Italian) being derived from the book La Caccia in Etolia by Belisario Valeriani. The identity of the librettist is not known.

Handel composed it for the London celebrations of the marriage in 1736 of Frederick, Prince of Wales, eldest son of King George II. The first performance took place on 12th May 1736 in the Covent Garden Theatre. It closed with a spectacular display of fireworks, which was highly popular with the Prince of Wales and the London audience, and the opera and fireworks display were revived a number of times in the year of its first performance.

The opera is rarely recorded or performed nowadays (before a production in 1970 the critic Winton Dean claimed that it had never been revived since 1736). However, one arioso from it, Care Selve, Ombre Beate, has acquired popularity as a recital piece. In the original score it is sung by Meleagro - despite being a male character, a soprano part, nowadays taken as a breeches role though in the original production it was taken by the castrato Gioacchino Conti.