Rodrigo is an opera in three acts composed by George Frideric Handel. Its original title was Vincer se stesso è la maggior vittoria ("To overcome oneself is the greater victory"). The opera is based on the historical figure of Rodrigo, the last Visigothic king of Hispania. The libretto was based on the work of Francesco Silvani, II duello d'amore e di vendetta ("The conflict between love and revenge").[1] Dating from 1707, it was his first opera written for performance in Italy, and the first performance is taken to have occurred in Florence late in 1707.[2] The opera was revived properly only in 1984, in Innsbruck, after a lost fragment from Act III was found. Later productions have been given in London (1985) and Karlsruhe (1987).[1]

Rinaldo (HWV 7) is an Italian opera by George Frideric Handel, now a part of the standard operatic repertoire. The Italian libretto was written by Giacomo Rossi based on episodes of Torquato Tasso's Gerusalemme liberata ("Jerusalem Delivered"). It is a heroic story of battle and love set in the time of the First Crusade (1096–1099).
Rinaldo was the first opera Handel produced for London and the first Italian opera composed specifically for the London stage. It was first performed in Her Majesty's Theatre in Haymarket on 24 February 1711. It was a great success thanks in part to the participation of two of the leading castrati of the era, Nicolo Grimaldi and Valentino Urbani. The strains of financing its grand production, however, resulted in liens from the unpaid craftsmen, and the Lord Chamberlain's office revoked the impresarion Aaron Hill's license nine days after the opening of Rinaldo.[1]

Alessandro (Alexander the Great) is an opera composed by George Frideric Handel in 1726. Paolo Rolli was the librettist and based the story on Ortensio Mauro's La superbia d'Alessandro. This was the first opera where Handel had cast together in the same opera the famous singers Faustina Bordoni, as Rossane, and Francesca Cuzzoni, as Lisaura. Handel made use of their real-life professional rivalry in his treatment of the story. The original cast also included Francesco Bernardi. Handel had originally planned Alessandro to be his first contribution to the 1725-1726 season of the Royal Academy. However, Bordoni did not arrive in London in time to stage Alessandro, and Handel substituted his own Scipione in March and April of 1726 until her arrival. The opera received its first performance on 5 May 1726 at the King's Theatre, London. The story is based around Alexander the Great's journey to India, where he meets Poro, the king of India, who was the subject of another Handel opera of that name.

Flavio, re di Longobardi (Flavio, King of the Lombards) is an opera in three acts by George Frideric Handel. The Italian-language libretto was by Nicola Francesco Haym, after Matteo Noris's Il Flavio Cuniberto. It was Handel's fourth opera for the Royal Academy of Music. Handel had originally entitled the opera after the character of Emilia in the opera. Handel completed the score only 7 days before the premiere, at the King's Theatre in the Haymarket, London on 14 May 1723. There were 8 performances in the premiere run. The work was revived on 18 April 1732, under the direction of the composer, for 4 performances. There were no further revivals until it was rediscovered and performed in Göttingen in 1967. The first UK performance since Handel's time was in August 1969 at the Unicorn Theatre, Abingdon.

Giustino (or Justin) is an opera in three acts by George Frideric Handel. The Italian-language libretto was adapted from Pietro Pariati's Giustino, after Nicolo Beregan's Il Giustino.
The opera was first given at the Covent Garden Theatre in London on 16 February 1737 and on 8 further occasions. It was also performed in Brunswick in August 1741. The first modern performance was in Abingdon on 21 April 1963. The first London performance since Handel's time was in November 1983.[1] It was also produced at the Komische Oper, Berlin by Harry Kupfer in 1985.

Il pastor fido is an opera in three acts by George Frideric Handel. It was set to a libretto by Giacomo Rossi based on the famed and widely familiar pastoral poem of the same name by Giovanni Battista Guarini.
It was composed in 1712 and first performed in the same year. The opera opened to a largely hostile reception, probably due to disappointment after the success of Rinaldo: one diarist noted critically that "the scene represented only the Country of Arcadia; the Habits [costumes] were old – the Opera short". The roles of Mirtillo and Silvio were originally sung by the castratos Valeriano Pellegrini and Valentino Urbani. The overture is in six movements and is long for its time: it is thought that it may have been originally composed as an unrelated orchestral suite.

L'Allegro, il Pensieroso ed il Moderato (HWV 55) is a pastoral ode by George Frideric Handel based on the poetry of John Milton. L'Allegro was composed in the winter of 1740 and premiered on the 27th of February at the Royal Theatre of Licoln's Inn Fields. One of Handel's librettists, Charles Jennens, arranged Milton's two poems, L'Allegro and il Penseroso, interleaving them to create dramatic tension between the personified characters of Milton's poems (L'Allegro or the 'Joyful man' and il Pensieroso or the 'Contemplative man'). The work is in three movements: the first two movements consist of this dramatic dialog between Milton's poems and in the third movement Jennens added a new poem, il Moderato, in an attempt to unite the two poems into a singular "moral design".

Poro, re dell'Indie (or 'Porus, King of the Indians') (HWV 28) is an opera seria in three acts by George Frideric Handel. The Italian-language libretto was adapted from Alessandro nell'Indie by Metastasio, and based on Alexander the Great's encounter with King Porus in 326 BC. Graham Cummings has examined in detail the composition history of Poro in the context of Handel's work on his London operas during the 1730's, and has postulated the principal time of Handel's composing from September 1730 to 16 January 1731, with small revisions prior to the 2 February premiere.[1]
The opera shifted the story's emphasis from Alessandro to Poro and Cleofide, and their relationship.

Imeneo (Hymen) (HWV 41) is an opera seria in three acts by George Frideric Handel. The Italian-language libretto was adapted from Silvio Stampiglia's Imeneo. Handel had begun composition in September 1738, but did not complete the score until 1740. The opera received its first performance at the Lincoln's Inn Fields in London on 22 November 1740, and received another performance on 13 December. Handel then revised the score, and this revised version received concert performances in Dublin, on 24 and 31 March 1742.[1] The first modern production was in Halle on 13 March 1960. The work was soon after performed in Birmingham in 1961, under the direction of Anthony Lewis.[2] Lewis also led the first London revival of the opera since Handel's time, in 1972 at the Royal Academy of Music.[3] Lewis has prepared a performing edition of the opera.[4]

Samson (HWV 57) is an oratorio by George Frideric Handel. It was based on a libretto by Newburgh Hamilton, who based it on Milton's Samson Agonistes, which in turn was based on the figure Samson in Chapter 16 of the Book of Judges. Samson is considered one of Handel's finest dramatic works. The premiere was given in London on February 18, 1743. It was a great success, leading to a total of seven performances in its first season, the most in a single season of any of his oratorios. Samson retained its popularity throughout Handel's lifetime and has never fallen entirely out of favor since. Samson is usually performed as an oratorio in concert form, but on occasions has also been staged as an opera.

Radamisto is an opera in three acts by George Frideric Handel to an Italian libretto by Nicola Francesco Haym, based on L'amor tirranico, o Zenobia by Domenico Lalli and Zenobia by Matteo Noris. It was Handel's first opera for the Royal Academy of Music. It was first performed at the King's Theatre, London on 27 April 1720. It was judged a success and there were 10 performances. A revised version with different singers was written for a revival on 28 December 1720. More revisions followed for a new version presented in 1721 and again for another revival in 1728. It was also given in Hamburg. The first modern performance was in Göttingen on 27 June 1927.

Faramondo ('Pharamond') (HWV 39) is an opera in three acts by George Frideric Handel to an Italian text adapted from Apostolo Zeno's Faramondo'. It was first performed at the King's Theatre, London on 3 January 1738. There were 8 performances and it was never revived. The first modern production was in Halle on 5 March 1976.

Muzio Scevola (Mucius Scaevola) is an opera in three acts. The Italian-language libretto was by Paolo Antonio Rolli, adapted from a text by Silvio Stampiglia. The music for the first act was composed by Filippo Amadei (family name sometimes given as Mattei[1]), the second act by Giovanni Bononcini, and the third by George Frideric Handel. Collaborations of groups of composers were common in the 18th century, though this is the only one done in London. Bononcini had written the music for two earlier treatments of this story on his own, works dating from 1695 and 1710. The opera was first given at the King's Theatre in London on 15 April 1721 and repeated on 7 November 1722. It was also performed in Hamburg. The first modern performance was in Essen in 1928.