FULL L’Allegro, il Penseroso ed il Moderato Moscow 2023 Dilyara Idrisova, Sergey Godin, Igor Podoplelov, Viktor Skorobrodov
Information on the Performance
- Work Title: L'Allegro, il Penseroso ed il Moderato
- Composer: Handel George Frideric aka Händel Georg Friedrich
- Libretto: Milton's two poems, "L'Allegro" and "il Penseroso", were arranged by James Harris
- Venue & Opera Company: Tchaikovsky Concert Hall, Moscow, Russia
- Recorded: November 3, 2023
- Type: Concert Live
- Singers: Dilyara Idrisova, Sergey Godin, Igor Podoplelov, Viktor Skorobrodov
- Conductor: Alexander Rudin
- Orchestra: Musica Viva Chamber Orchestra
- Chorus: Intrada Vocal Ensemble
- Stage Director:
- Costume Designer:
Information about the Recording
- Published by: Moscow Philharmonic Society
- Date Published: 2023
- Format: Streaming
- Quality Video: 4 Audio:4
- Subtitles: nosubs
- Video Recording from: YouTube FULL VIDEO
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION ON THIS PERFORMANCE
L’Allegro, il Penseroso ed il Moderato (The Cheerful Man, the Thoughtful Man and the Moderate Man), HWV 55, is a pastoral ode by George Frideric Handel based on the poetry of John Milton.
History
Handel composed the work over the period of 19 January to 4 February 1740, and it was premiered on 27 February 1740 at the Royal Theatre of Lincoln’s Inn Fields. At the urging of one of Handel’s librettists, Charles Jennens, Milton’s two poems, “L’Allegro” and “il Penseroso”, were arranged by James Harris, interleaving them to create dramatic tension between the personified characters of Milton’s poems (L’Allegro or the “Joyful man” and il Penseroso or the “Contemplative man”). The first two movements consist of this dramatic dialog between Milton’s poems. In an attempt to unite the two poems into a singular “moral design”, at Handel’s request, Jennens added a new poem, “il Moderato”, to create a third movement. The popular concluding aria and chorus, “As Steals the Morn” is adapted from Shakespeare’s The Tempest, V.i.65–68.
Michael O’Connell and John Powell have published an analysis of Handel’s setting of the text in his musical treatment.