Aria: "Son qual rocca" from "Tolomeo" (HWV 25 Act III No. 6) for Bb Clarinet & Strings

George Frideric (or Frederick) Handel (1685 – 1759) was a German-British Baroque composer well-known for his operas, oratorios, anthems, concerti grossi, and organ concerti. He was born in Halle, Germany and spent his early life in Hamburg and Italy before settling in London in 1712, where he spent the bulk of his career and became a naturalised British subject in 1727. He was strongly influenced both by the middle-German polyphonic choral tradition and by composers of the Italian Baroque. In turn, Handel's music forms one of the peaks of the "high baroque" style, bringing Italian opera to its highest development, creating the genres of English oratorio and organ concerto, and introducing a new style into English church music. He is consistently recognized as one of the greatest composers of his age.

"Tolomeo, re d'Egitto" (Ptolemy, King of Egypt (HWV 25)) is an opera seria in three acts by George Frideric Handel to an Italian text by Nicola Francesco Haym, adapted from Carlo Sigismondo Capece's Tolomeo et Alessandro. It was Handel's 13th (or 14th if the one act Handel contributed to the collaborative opera Muzio Scevola is counted) and last opera for the Royal Academy of Music (1719) and was also the last of the operas he composed for the triumvirate of internationally renowned singers, the castrato Senesino and the sopranos Francesca Cuzzoni and Faustina Bordoni.

The story of the opera is a fictionalisation of some events in the life of Ptolemy IX Lathyros, king of Egypt. An aria from the opera, Non lo dirò col labbro, was adapted by Arthur Somervell (1863–1937) as the popular English-language classic "Silent Worship" in 1928.

Tolomeo was first performed at the King's Theatre, London on 30 April 1728 and received seven performances. It was revived with revisions on 19 May 1730 and 2 January 1733, a mark of the work's popularity. The first production of modern times was conducted by Fritz Lehmann at Göttingen on 19 June 1938. As with all Baroque opera seria, Tolomeo went unperformed for many years, but with the revival of interest in Baroque music and historically informed musical performance since the 1960s,Tolomeo, like all Handel operas, receives performances at festivals and opera houses today. Among other productions, Tolomeo was performed at the Handel Festival in Halle in 1996, by English Touring Opera in 2006, and by Glimmerglass Opera in 2010.

The action takes place at the time of Ptolemy IX (Tolomeo), who was deposed by his mother and joint ruler of Egypt Cleopatra III in favour of his younger brother Ptolemy X (Alessandro). Its themes include revenge, lust, lost love, devotion, and eventually, reconciliation.

Source: Wikipedia (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tolomeo).

Although originally written for Opera, I created this arrangement of the Aria: "Son qual rocca percossa dall'onde" (I am like a rock struck by the waves) from "Tolomeo, re d'Egitto" (HWV 25 Act III No. 6) for Bb Clarinet & Strings (2 Violins, Viola & Cello).

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