By 1700, opera had established
itself all over Italy, supported mainly by the great princes, but at Venice
maintained on a commercial basis by the citizens themselves since 1637. The
first attempt at a German opera was made by Heinrich Schuetz, at Torgau,
ten years earlier. Vienna introduced Italian opera in 1631, and, generally
speaking, the Catholic princes of Germany, who one after another followed
the example of Vienna, preferred opera in Italian. Protestant Germany
inclined more to opera in its own language, though towards the end of the
century Italian gradually gained the upper hand at the more important
courts. Native German opera owed its origin partly to the visit of the
English comedians early in the century, and partly to the musical plays
acted by school-boys; from the English "jigs" came the use of short popular
songs, and from the school plays the tendency of the early German operas to
be of a more or less sacred or edifying character.
Handel's friend, the composer Telemann, tells us that it was not unusual
for students from the University of Leipzig to go to Berlin to hear the
Italian opera, which had been established by the Electress Sophia Charlotte
in 1700, and this suggests that Handel's visit to Berlin may have
taken place in 1703 rather than in his childhood.
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