Lotario is an opera seria

Opera seria

Opera seria is an Italian musical term which refers to the noble and "serious" style of Italian opera that predominated in Europe from the 1710s to c. 1770...

 in three acts written for the Royal Academy of Music (1719) by George Frideric Handel

George Frideric Handel

George Frideric Handel was a German-British Baroque composer, famous for his operas, oratorios, anthems and organ concertos. Handel was born in 1685, in a family indifferent to music...

. The Italian

Italian language

Italian is a Romance language spoken mainly in Europe: Italy, Switzerland, San Marino, Vatican City, by minorities in Malta, Monaco, Croatia, Slovenia, France, Libya, Eritrea, and Somalia, and by immigrant communities in the Americas and Australia...

-language libretto

Libretto

A libretto is the text used in an extended musical work such as an opera, operetta, masque, oratorio, cantata, or musical. The term "libretto" is also sometimes used to refer to the text of major liturgical works, such as mass, requiem, and sacred cantata, or even the story line of a...

 was adapted from Antonio Salvi

Antonio Salvi

Antonio Salvi was an Italian physician, court poet and librettist. He was in the service of the ducal court in Florence and the favourite librettist of Prince Ferdinando de' Medici. Salvi was one of the developers of the opera seria.- Life :Salvi was a court physician in Florence for the De'...

's Adelaide.

Performance history

The opera was first given at the King's Theatre

Her Majesty's Theatre

Her Majesty's Theatre is a West End theatre, in Haymarket, City of Westminster, London. The present building was designed by Charles J. Phipps and was constructed in 1897 for actor-manager Herbert Beerbohm Tree, who established the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art at the theatre...

 in London

London

London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...

 on 2 December 1729. Paolo Rolli commented in a letter at the time to Giuseppe Riva that "everyone thinks it a very bad opera". There were 10 performances, but it was not repeated. Handel later reused pieces in later operas. The first modern production was by Unicorn Theatre at the Kenton Theatre

Kenton Theatre

The Kenton Theatre is an old theatre in the town of Henley-on-Thames, Oxfordshire, England.The theatre was founded 7 November 1805 and is the fourth oldest working theatre in the United Kingdom. It is staffed by volunteers...

, Henley on Thames, 3 September 1975.

Roles

Role	Voice type	Premiere Cast, 2 December 1729 (Conductor: - )
Adelaide	soprano Soprano A soprano is a voice type with a vocal range from approximately middle C to "high A" in choral music, or to "soprano C" or higher in operatic music. In four-part chorale style harmony, the soprano takes the highest part, which usually encompasses the melody...	Anna Maria Strada Anna Maria Strada Anna Maria Strada was an Italian soprano of the 18th century. She is best remembered for her association with the composer George Frideric Handel, in whose operas Strada sang.-Career:...
Lotario	alto Alto Alto is a musical term, derived from the Latin word altus, meaning "high" in Italian, that has several possible interpretations.When designating instruments, "alto" frequently refers to a member of an instrumental family that has the second highest range, below that of the treble or soprano. Hence,...  castrato Castrato A castrato is a man with a singing voice equivalent to that of a soprano, mezzo-soprano, or contralto voice produced either by castration of the singer before puberty or one who, because of an endocrinological condition, never reaches sexual maturity.Castration before puberty prevents a boy's...	Antonio Maria Bernacchi
Berengario, Duke of Spoleto	tenor Tenor The tenor is a type of male singing voice and is the highest male voice within the modal register. The typical tenor voice lies between C3, the C one octave below middle C, to the A above middle C in choral music, and up to high C in solo work. The low extreme for tenors is roughly B2...	Annibale Pio Fabri Annibale Pio Fabri Annibale Pio Fabri was an Italian composer and singer of the 18th century... , called "Balino"
Matilde, Berengario's wife	alto	Antonia Merighi Antonia Merighi Antonia Margherita Merighi was an Italian contralto active between 1711 and 1744 and particularly known today for her performances in operas by George Frideric Handel.-Biography:...
Idelberto, Berengario's son	alto	Francesca Bertolli Francesca Bertolli Francesca Bertolli was an Italian contralto of the 18th century. She is best remembered for her association with the composer George Frideric Handel, in whose operas she sang....
Clodomiro, Berengario's general	bass	Johann Gottfried Riemschneider