George Frideric Handel Video (DVD)

George Frideric Handel. Handel always knew how to succeed. His Italian operas took London by storm, but when the public rejected music in foreign languages he gave them the oratorio in English. And when the Royal Academy of Music folded, Handel revived it under a scheme of subscriptions and box-office receipts and modern theater was born. This program traces Handel’s distinguished career, focusing on his great output of operas and oratorios, the most famous of which is his Messiah. Musical directors Christophe Rousset and William Christie discuss his innovations. A wide range of his music is sampled, including Dixit Dominus, Water Music, Rinaldo, Julius Caesar, Royal Fireworks Music, Solomon, and Concerto for Organ No. 5, Op. 4, as well as "Fammi Cambaterre" from Orlando, as sung by Felicity Palmer. (27 minutes)
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