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Operas by George Frideric Handel

Almira (1705) Florindo (1708) Rodrigo (1707) Agrippina (1709) Rinaldo (1711) Il pastor fido (1712) Teseo (1713) Amadigi di Gaula (1715) Acis and Galatea (1718) Radamisto (1720) Muzio Scevola (1721) Floridante (1721) Ottone (1723) Flavio (1723) Giulio Cesare (1724) Tamerlano (1724) Rodelinda (1725) Scipione (1726) Alessandro (1726) Admeto (1727) Riccardo Primo (1727) Siroe (1728) Tolomeo (1728) Lotario (1729) Partenope (1730) Poro (1731) Ezio (1732) Sosarme (1732) Orlando (1733) Arianna in Creta (1734) Oreste (1734) Ariodante (1735) Alcina (1735) Atalanta (1736) Arminio (1737) Giustino (1737) Berenice (1737) Alessandro Severo (1738) Faramondo (1738) Serse (1738) Giove in Argo (1739) Imeneo (1740) Deidamia (1741) Semele (1744)

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 plot is generally described as thin, with some critics rating it thin in the extreme. It takes place in legendary times in Greece, at abut the 13th century BC. The hero is Meleager, the young King of Etolia. He is courting the eponymous Atalanta, who runs away to the woods of Etolia where she lives under the name of Amaryllis among the nymphs and shepherds. Meleager follows her there and disguises himself as a shepherd, taking the name of Thyrsis. There their loves become confused with those of a couple of young shepherds, Irene and Amyntas (Aminta); Irene's father, Nicandro is the only person who knows Meleager's true identity. In the end, however, Atalanta falls in love with Meleager in his disguised form, and they are revealed to each other by Nicandro; Irene and Amyntas are reconciled, and all ends happily.

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.

The complete list of characters is as follows:

Atalanta; soprano

Meleager; soprano

Irene; mezzo-soprano

Aminta; tenor

Nicandro; bass

Mercurio (Mercury, the messenger god); bass

Confusingly, there is also a character called Atalanta in another Handel opera, Serse (Xerxes).

The complete list of arias is as follows:

Lascia ch'io parta solo; Meleager

S'è tuo piacer, chio mora; Aminta

Impara, ingrata; Nicandro

Come alla tortorella langue; Irene

Riportai gloriosa palma; Atalanta

Non sarà poco; Meleager

Lassa! ch'io t'ho perduta; Atalanta

Sì, mel raccordero; Meleager

Soffri in pace il tuo dolore; Irene

Dì ad Irene, tiranna; Aminta

M'allontano, stegnose pupille; Meleager

Se nasce un rivoletto; Atalanta

Bench'io non sappia ancor; Atalanta

Diedi il core ad altra Ninfa; Aminta

Ben'io sento l'ingrata; Irene

Or trionfar ti fanno; Nicandro

Sol prova contenti; Mercurio

There are two duets in the opera sung by Meleager and Atalanta. They are Amarilli? - Oh Dei, che vuoi and Caro/Cara.

Dean, W. (1970). Handel's wedding opera. Musical Times, 111, 705-707.

• Complete libretto of the opera as recorded at a live performance by the Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra in Berkeley, California in 2005
• Link to an audio recording by the Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra
• Link to audio clip of Care Selve sung by Linda Maguire

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