Riccardo Primo, re d’Inghilterra (Richard the First, King of England; HWV 23) is an opera in three acts by George Frideric Handel. The Italian-language libretto was by Paolo Antonio Rolli, after Francesco Briani's Isacio tiranno, set by Antonio Lotti in 1710. Handel wrote the work for the Royal Academy's 1726-1727 opera season, and also as homage to the newly crowned George II and the nation where Handel had just received citizenship.
R.B. Chatwi...
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Riccardo Primo, re d’Inghilterra (Richard the First, King of England; HWV 23) is an opera in three acts by George Frideric Handel. The Italian-language libretto was by Paolo Antonio Rolli, after Francesco Briani's Isacio tiranno, set by Antonio Lotti in 1710. Handel wrote the work for the Royal Academy's 1726-1727 opera season, and also as homage to the newly crowned George II and the nation where Handel had just received citizenship.
R.B. Chatwin has discussed Handel's writing of orchestral parts for the chalumeau, a forerunner of the clarinet, as part of the musicological controversy over whether or not Handel wrote music for the clarinet or its precursors. Winton Dean and Richard Drakeford have commented on the weaknesses of the dramatic characterisations in the libretto.
The opera received its premiere at the King's Theatre in London on 11 November 1727, and 11 subsequent performances. It was also performed in Hamburg and Brunswick in February 1729. The Hamburg performance, lead...
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