The 18th century saw an explosion of opera across Europe. Opera houses were built in all the major European cities and new operas were commissioned
for each season. The King's theatre became the home of opera in the 18th and 19th centuries where operas were the main offering in the evening's
entertainment, usually interspersed with dances and sometimes a short play or farce as an afterpiece.
The one permanent opera company at the Royal Academy of Music lasted only eight years and played to the nobility. This was financed by artistocratic
patrons but this bore little comparison to the wealth of court patronage that financed opera abroad. In the public theatres, opera was usually presented
for short seasons with star foreign singers.
It was the music of Frederick Handel that really established the popularity of opera in London. Handel was sent
abroad by the Royal Academy of Music to attract the best available singers to London. Senesino the famous
castrato was offered the vast sum of £2,000 a year to perform in London in 1710.
Operas were composed for individual singers who were the great stars. The composer's job was to produce music to show off the star's voice
and many composers could write an opera in just two or three weeks. These star singers had considerable freedom to improvise within the music. Indeed
certain passages of ornamentation were left to the singer's own inclination and would change from night to night.
In the early 18th century opera was dominated by castratos. The most famous castrato was Farinelli who could
hold a note for a whole minute and sing over three octaves. Castratos were treated like pop stars today. Women were attracted to them for their youthful
good looks and smooth complexions. They appeared all over Europe and were paid vast fees.
Handel and Opera Seria
