Terpsicore

Terpsicore mixes dance along with solo and choral singing and was patterned after models in French operas, a particular source being Les festes grecques et romaines by Louis Fuzelier and Colin de Blamont, first presented in Paris in 1723.

The work featured the celebrated French dancer Marie Sallé as well as stars of Handel's Italian operas and was a success with audiences of the day.

This was probably due to the fact that it was lacking in the sort of spectacular scenic effects and larger than life emotions of Handel's then sensational previous opera Rinaldo .

[2] As a result, in 1734, Handel radically revised Il Pastor Fido and presented the new version with a star role for celebrated castrato Carestini.

Today, Terpsicore receives performances at festivals and opera houses, whether as prologue to Il Pastor Fido or as an independent piece.

A tremendous success, Rinaldo created a craze in London for Italian opera seria, a form focused overwhelmingly on solo arias for the star virtuoso singers.