Anna Maria Strada, Prima Donna of G. F. Handel

ISBN-13: 9783631792438 / Angielski / Miękka / 2020 / 312 str.

Judit Zsovár

Opis

G. F. Handel's longest continuous collaboration with a leading singer took place with Anna Maria Strada, who may have sung with a chest-like vocal production in the head range as well. Conclusions rest on three main pillars: the musical sources; surviving descriptions and period treatises; completed with the author's experiences as a singer.

Spis treści

Abbreviations

Acknowledgements

Prelude

Chapter One: Early Years

Venice

The new singing style

The 1720/1721 season at Sant'Angelo

Finances

Milan, Livorno, and Lucca

Chapter Two: First Maturity

Naples, the operatic capital of Europe

Strada on the stage

Becoming the leading soprano

Chapter Three: Successor to the 'Rival Queens'

First impressions in London

Surpassing the predecessors

Social, political, and financial matters

Chapter Four: In the Midst of Operatic Business

Queen of revivals

Heroine of pasticci

Chapter Five: The Composer's Faithful Soprano

The first original roles

A multi-faceted vocal personality

Reinventing Strada

Chapter Six: The Prima Donna of Oratorios

Esther and Deborah

From Athalia to Bellezza

Chapter Seven: Back to Italy

The first San Carlo season

The last active years

Appendix: Strada's London Season Schedules

Bibliography

O autorze

Judit Zsovár gained her doctorate in musicology at the Liszt Ferenc Academy of Music in Budapest and has been awarded the Handel Institute Research as well as Conference grants, the DAAD-, and the Zoltán Kodály scholarships. She holds publications in four languages about Baroque opera singers as well as the soprano sfogato voice. As a soprano soloist, she appeared, inter alia, at the Vienna Konzerthaus, the Handel House in London, and the Helsinki Music Centre.