George Frideric Handel is universally celebrated as a titan of English oratorio, yet the architectural genesis of this beloved genre is far more international—and multilingual—than popular music history often suggests. While cultural memory frequently binds Handel’s sacred English masterpieces to native-born vocalists like John Beard and Susannah Cibber, the composer’s transition from Italian opera to English oratorio was a prolonged, symbiotic evolution. For roughly a decade, both artistic forms coexisted within his London seasons, resulting in an extraordinary cross-pollination of talent.
Enter Handel’s Italians: Italian castrati in the London oratorios, a striking new release from Harmonia Mundi scheduled for September 2026. Spearheaded by acclaimed Italian countertenor Carlo Vistoli alongside soprano Giulia Semenzato, period ensemble Le Concert d’Astrée, and conductor Emmanuelle Haïm, this recording breaks away from the conventional "greatest hits" mold. Instead, it offers an imaginative, deeply researched exploration of the arias Handel expressly tailored, translated, or adapted for the legendary Italian castrati who populated his London oratorio casts.
By resurrecting these linguistic and musical hybrids—ranging from Senesino’s bravura turns to Carestini’s Italianized adaptations—Vistoli and his collaborators illuminate a fascinating, lesser-known chapter of Baroque music history. Far from a mere novelty, this album delivers suavely stylish performances that prove just how fluid and interconnected Handel’s theatrical and sacred worlds truly were.
Detailed Chronology: The Italian Castrati in Handel’s London
To understand the repertoire featured on Handel’s Italians, one must trace the winding timeline of George Frideric Handel’s operatic and oratorio ventures in the British capital throughout the 1730s and 1740s.
1732: The Emergency Revival of Esther
Handel’s pivot to oratorio was not born of a sudden ideological epiphany, but rather out of commercial necessity. In 1732, faced with rival theatrical companies pirating his earlier works, Handel hastily assembled a new, revised version of his 1720 masque Esther to be staged at the King’s Theatre.
Because the production was cobbled together rapidly, it naturally relied on the pool of Italian opera stars currently under Handel’s employ. Just weeks after performing in Handel’s Flavio, re de’ Longobardi, these elite Italians stepped onto the oratorio stage. The cast included:
- Anna Maria Strada (soprano)
- Francesco Bernardi, known as "Il Senesino" (castrato)
- Francesca Bertolli (contralto)
- Antonio Montagnana (bass)
This production set a permanent precedent. From this point forward, Handel’s London oratorios frequently featured a cosmopolitan mix of English and Italian artists, depending on availability and box-office appeal.
1733: Athalia and Senesino’s Linguistic Mishaps
Building upon the success of Esther, Handel premiered Athalia in 1733. Aside from the dependable Strada, the cast was notably all-English. However, the presence of Italian luminaries during this transitional era often yielded moments of unintentional comedy.
Senesino, who had been a cornerstone of Handel’s London opera seasons since 1720, maintained a steady presence through 1733. While he possessed a robust grasp of English for musical purposes, contemporary accounts suggest his pronunciation left much to be desired. A famous theatrical anecdote recounts Senesino mangling a dramatic line, transforming the solemn verse "I come, my Queen, to chaste delights" into the rather more domestic and startling confession, "I comb my Queen to chase the lice."
1733–1735: Giovanni Carestini and the Italianization of Oratorio
The arrival of the celebrated castrato Giovanni Carestini in London in 1733 marked a major turning point. Engaged to sing in masterworks like Arianna in Creta, Ariodante, and Alcina, Carestini was also drafted into revivals of Deborah, Esther, and Athalia.
Carestini, known for possessing a notoriously difficult temperament, proved resistant to singing sacred texts in English. To appease his star castrato and salvage the productions, Handel took the extraordinary measure of creating bespoke Italian arias for Carestini. This involved translating original English texts into Italian and transposing vocal lines to comfortably fit Carestini’s modern mezzo-soprano range.
For the 1735 revival of Athalia, Handel went a step further, lifting and reworking material from his Italian sacred motet Silete venti to fashion virtuosic showpieces tailored specifically to Carestini’s artistic profile.
The 1740s: Andreoni, Guadagni, and Late-Era Accommodations
As the 1740s progressed, Handel increasingly favored English-native singers for his oratorios. Nevertheless, he continued to integrate Italian vocalists when practical.
- Giovanni Battista Andreoni: When Andreoni sang in the 1741 revivals of operas like Imeneo and Deidamia, Handel also prepared a specially translated and transposed version of the role of David for him in a revival of Saul.
- Gaetano Guadagni: Arriving later in the decade via a visiting Italian comic opera troupe, Guadagni forged a unique path in London. Working closely with theatrical legend David Garrick and Handel himself, Guadagni managed to bridge the linguistic divide. He created the principal role of Didymus in Theodora (performing alongside English sopranos Giulia Frasi and Caterina Galli) and was given high-profile, demanding English virtuoso arias for Messiah.
Supporting Context & Metrics: Repertoire and Performance Analysis
Handel’s Italians is structured with scholarly precision, opening with the stately overture from the Concerto Grosso Op. 6, No. 10 before diving into a rigorously curated sequence of vocal gems.
Vocal Execution and Linguistic Triumph
One of the most remarkable technical feats of this recording is the vocal execution by countertenor Carlo Vistoli and soprano Giulia Semenzato. Historically, London audiences frequently winced at the mangled diction of foreign singers. On this Harmonia Mundi release, however, both soloists deliver pristine, articulate English where required, alongside idiomatically fluent Italian translations.
Vistoli, who is intimately familiar with Handel’s English repertoire (having recently triumphed as a core performer in Semele at London’s Royal Opera House, Covent Garden), anchors the album with an attractively warm tone, effortless lyricism, and a remarkably agile approach to coloratura.
Repertoire Highlights on the Disc
- From Esther: Vistoli tackles Senesino’s assigned numbers, including "How can I stay when Love invites" and the touching duet "Who calls my parting soul from death?", immediately establishing his honeyed vocal warmth.
- From Deborah: The album brilliantly contrasts Senesino’s high-octane bravura in "All danger disdaining" with Carestini’s sumptuous lyricism in "Più bella spoglia sarà fral", an aria that feels like an undiscovered treasure straight out of an Italian opera house.
- From Belshazzar & Theodora: Representing Guadagni’s legacy, Vistoli navigates Cyrus’s "Great God! Who yet but darkly known" (inserted for the 1751 revival) and Theodora‘s dramatic aria "The raptur’d soul defies the sword". He and Semenzato then blend seamlessly in the glorious duet "To thee, thou glorious son of worth", preceded by a spine-tingling accompanied recitative.
- From Messiah: Guadagni’s famous adaptation of "But who may abide the day of His coming" highlights the tension between lush lyrical phrasing and blistering Handelian virtuosity, which Vistoli colors with tasteful, discreet ornamentation.
- From Saul & Athalia: Andreoni’s Italianized rendition of David’s music ("Di Jonathan lo stral portò") offers a fascinating window into the fluidity of Baroque arrangement. The album concludes triumphantly in 1735 territory with Carestini’s numbers from Athalia, including "Cor fedele" (ingeniously derived from Silete venti) and the blazing bravura showcase "Angelico Splendor".
Official Statements & Artistic Vision
While traditional liner notes frame historical performance practice, the artistic intent behind Handel’s Italians speaks to a broader movement in modern early-music interpretation: the desire to break down rigid genre boundaries.
In statements accompanying the release, collaborators emphasize that Handel did not view "Italian opera" and "English oratorio" as mutually exclusive artistic silos, but rather as fluid, porous mediums that adapted dynamically to the stars performing them.
Conductor Emmanuelle Haïm, leading the virtuosic period instruments of Le Concert d’Astrée, provides a muscular yet sensitive framework that supports the singers’ flights of fancy without ever overpowering the text. Similarly, Carlo Vistoli’s approach to the repertoire honors the historical versatility of the castrato voice—which spanned both soprano and alto tessituras—proving that modern countertenors can recapture not just the notes, but the dramatic psychology of Handel’s original superstars.
Future Outlook: Implications for Classical Programming and Recording
The release of Handel’s Italians on Harmonia Mundi arrives at a fascinating juncture for classical music recording and early-music performance practice.
1. Re-Evaluating the "Authenticity" Paradigm
For decades, historical performance movements have fought hard to establish purist boundaries: English oratorios must be sung by English-speaking casts in English; Italian operas must adhere strictly to Italian librettos. This disc playfully yet authoritatively shatters those orthodoxies. By documenting the historical reality of polyglot, hybridized performances—where Italian castrati forced English masterpieces to bend to their native tongue—the album opens doors for adventurous modern programmers.
2. The Future of Polyglot Revivals
Naturally, the question arises: Would any modern opera house or festival dare to stage a fully polyglot Handel oratorio today, complete with historical Italian interpolations for specific acts?
While a full theatrical staging of a hybrid Athalia or Saul remains commercially daunting for mainstream institutions, niche early-music festivals are uniquely positioned to experiment. Projects like Vistoli and Haïm’s recording provide the foundational scholarship and artistic template required to make such historical curiosities viable on the modern concert stage.
3. Impact on the Solo Countertenor Market
In a crowded recording market saturated with standard Handel "greatest hits" anthologies, Handel’s Italians sets a new benchmark for conceptual intelligence. By anchoring virtuosic display in deep historical contextualization, Carlo Vistoli has delivered more than just a vocal showcase. He has provided a masterclass in Baroque performance history—one that will undoubtedly influence countertenor programming choices for years to come.
