ABSTRACT
The study of an opera composer's dealings with his librettists is always interesting, and may be very revealing. The authors know a certain amount about George Frideric Handel's collaboration with the librettists of his oratorios from the pronouncements of Charles Jennens and Thomas Morell, and from Handel's letters to Jennens during the composition of Belshazzar in 1744. There is however almost no documentary evidence concerning his relations with his opera librettists. No fewer than seven of his operas produced in 1725 or later are based on librettos by Antonio Salvi, the court poet in Florence, Handel's first destination in Italy. He was concerned in three of Handel's first four London operas, Rinaldo, Il pastor fido and Silla. This is the only direct statement by any of Handel's opera librettists about his collaboration with the composer, and it conceals almost as much as it reveals.
