The story to be found in George Frideric Handel’s Alcina, which first appeared at the Theatre Royal, Covent Garden in 1735, comes from Ludovico Ariosto’s epic sixteenth century poem Orlando furioso. It was employed for many operas, one of which was Riccardo Broschi’s L'isola di Alcina, which premiered in Rome in 1728. Handel acquired Antonio Fanzaglia’s libretto for it the following year during his travels in Italy, and that for his own opera was arranged by...

George Frideric Handel’s Giustino, HWV 37 has an Italian language libretto, the origins of which lie in one created by Nicolò Beregan in 1682. That was first set to music by Giovanni Legrenzi the following year, and was subsequently used by Tomaso Albinoni in 1711 (though his opera is now lost) and Antonio Vivaldi in 1724. The version that Handel used had been adapted from Beregan by Holy Roman Emperor Charles VI’s court poet Pietro Pariati in 1711.  The opera...