On George Frideric Handel’s birthday, check out these H. Paul Moon films documenting four of the composer’s operas tailored for outdoor performance in New York community gardens by Opera Essentia. The company’s artistic director, countertenor Jeffrey Mandelbaum, manages to get each of them down to about an hour. The operas are rarely-heard. The abridgments are tasteful. The productions are no-budget, bare-bones, and beautiful. I posted about “The Queen’s Heart,” the distillation of “Radamisto,” early in January. Hear all four here:
https://zenviolence.com/handel
Happy birthday, Handel!
Tag: Opera Essentia
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Handel in the Garden with Opera Essentia
H. Paul Moon wrapped up 2025 by quietly slipping a gift under the tree in the form of a posted film of an Opera Essentia performance of George Frideric Handel’s “Radamisto.” Countertenor Jeffrey Mandelbaum’s distillation of the composer’s 1720 opera seria in three acts manages to get it down to one hour as “The Queen’s Heart.”
I love this sort of quixotic endeavor, presenting tasteful abridgements of rare Handel operas in New York City neighborhoods for free. The productions are no-budget, bare-bones, and beautiful. Watching the wind rustle the leaves during this performance is magical.
Mandelbaum has appeared widely, in both concert hall and opera house, including at the Metropolitan Opera, alongside such singers as Joyce DiDonato and Placido Domingo.
H. Paul Moon’s feature-length documentary “Samuel Barber: Absolute Beauty” aired nationwide on PBS in 2017.
Opera Essentia performs in New York’s gardens, parks, and other neighborhood gathering spaces. “The Queen’s Heart” was filmed at Green Oasis Community Garden on May 24, 2025.
Enjoy it here:
To view other operas in the series, visit:
For more information about Opera Essentia, visit:
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