Handel was both talented and brave

Re: A Man of Genius, Nov. 17. Thank you for bringing to my attention the book Handel in London by Jane Glover, and I am glad your article included a picture of the Canadian conductor Ivars Taurins, whose Sing-Along Messiah productions have always been highlights of the Christmas season.

Taurins looks majestic in his Handelian costume, but I do wish he would shave off his beard and moustache, items that were not in style in Handel’s time. To doff these appendages would be a small price to pay for verisimilitude.

Your article mentions that Glover’s book is more about Handel’s music than about his person, but I do hope that Handel will be depicted as not only a great musician but also as a brave one. For example, only one year after the first performance of Messiah, Handel composed an opera called Semele, based on a mythical story by Ovid. Handel’s music is wonderful, and there’s a finale that might have brought King George to his feet once again, but the opera was banned because it was deemed to be sacrilegious.

Here’s how the opera ends: Semele, a young virgin, is impregnated by a god. Even though Semele dies, it is predicted that her only son will survive and will also be called a god upon whom one can place one’s burdens and gain relief from pain — and his name shall be called Bacchus! Was this a parody on Handel’s own Messiah?

No wonder Handel occasionally ran into trouble with the authorities.

John E. Rutherford, Gatineau