Beethoven is remembered to have praised Handel on numerous occasions. “Handel is the greatest composer who ever lived,” he said. “I would uncover my head and kneel down on his tomb.” On his deathbed, he indicated an edition of Handel’s works and said, “There is the truth.”

Upon hearing the “Hallelujah Chorus,” Haydn wept and declared, “He is the master of us all.”

Mozart said, “He understands effect better than any of us – when he chooses, he strikes like a thunderbolt.”

Berlioz? Berlioz called him “a tub of pork and beer.” Knowing what I do of Handel, he probably would have enjoyed that best of all.

Happy birthday, George Frideric Handel (1685-1759).

“Ariodante” was the opera I hated most when I first heard it in 1990. Now I hold it dear. Funny how things change.

“Scherza infida”

“Dopo notte”