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

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.

Autorentext

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.

Klappentext

George Frideric Handel s longest continuous collaboration with a leading singer took place between 1729 and 1737 with Anna Maria Strada del Pò (1703 1775), a soprano who may have sung entirely di pettö that is, with a chest-like vocal production in the head range as well: powerfully and sonorously. The investigation of her peculiar vocal features and career, in connection with the music written for her by Handel and other composers, involved musicological research methods and findings of the historically informed performance practice. The conclusions rest on three main pillars: musical sources; surviving descriptions of her singing; and period treatises, completed with the author s practical experiences as a classical singer.

Inhalt
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