I c. 
M U S 
306 
dramatic exhibitions. The oratorios had been common 
in Italy during the laft century. They had never been 
publicly introduced in England, till Handel, ftimulated 
by the rivallhip of other adventurers, exhibited in 1732 
his oratorios or Either, and of Acts and Galatea, the laft 
of which he had compofed twelve years before for the 
duke of Chandos’s chapel at Cannons. The molt formi¬ 
dable oppolition which Handel met with in his conduit 
of the Italian opera, was a new theatre for exhibiting 
thefe operas, opened by fubfcription in Lincoln’s-inn- 
fields, under the conduit of Nicola Porpora, a refpeitable 
compofer. A difference having occurred between Han¬ 
del and Senefino; Senefino had for fome time deferted 
the Haymarket, where Plandel managed, and was now 
engaged at the rival theatre of Lincoln’s-inn-fields. To 
litpply the place of Senefino, Handel brought over Gio¬ 
vanni Careltini, a finger of the molt extenfive powers. 
His voice was at firlt a powerful and clear foprano : after¬ 
wards it changed into the fulleft, fineft, deepelt, counter¬ 
tenor that has perhaps ever been heard. Careftini’s per- 
fon was tall, beautiful, and majeftic. He rendered every 
thing he fang interefting by energy, tafte, and judicious 
embellilhment. In the execution of difficult divifions 
from the clieft, his manner was articulate and admirable. 
It was the opinion of Halle, as well as other eminent pro- 
feffors, that whoever had not heard Careltini, was unac¬ 
quainted with the moft-perreit Ityle of finging. The 
opera under the direilion of Porpora was removed to 
the Haymarket, which Handel had left. Handel occu¬ 
pied the theatre of Lincoln’s-inn-fields; but his rivals 
now acquired a vail advantage of attrailion, by the 
acceffion of Carlo Brofchi, called Farinelli, to their party, 
who at this time arrived. This renowned finger leems 
to have tranfcended the limits of all anterior vocal ex¬ 
cellence. No vocal performer of the eighteenth century 
has been fo unanimoully allowed to poll'efs an uncom¬ 
mon power, l'weetnefs, extent, and agility, of voice, as 
Farinelli. Nicolini, Senefino, and Careltini, gratified the 
eye as much by the dignity, grace, and propriety of their 
adtion and deportment, as the ear by the judicious ufe 
of a few notes within the limits of a frnall compais of 
voice; but Farinelli, without the affiltance of fignificant 
geftures or graceful attitudes, enchanted and aftonidled 
his hearers, by the force, extent, and mellifluous tones, 
of the mere organ, when he had nothing to execute, ar¬ 
ticulate, or exprefs. Though during the time of finging 
he was as motionlefs as a ftatue, his voice was fo ac¬ 
tive, that no intervals were too clofe, too wide, or too 
rapid, for his execution. 
Handel, having loft a great part of his fortune by the 
opera, was under the neceflily of trying the public grati¬ 
tude in a benefit, which was not difgraced by the event. 
The theatre, for the honour of the nation, was fo crowded, 
that he is laid to have cleared 800I. After a fruitlefs at¬ 
tempt by Heidegger, the coadjutor of Handel in the 
conduit of the opera, and patentee of the King’s Theatre 
in the Haymarket, to procure a fubfcription for con¬ 
tinuing it, it was found neceflary to give up the under¬ 
taking. 
It was about this time that the ftatue of Handel was 
ereited in Vauxhall, at the expenfe of Mr. Tyers, pro¬ 
prietor of thole gardens. It has often been remarked 
lately, that Vauxhall opens too foon and fliuts too foon. 
It commonly opens about the 4th of June, before the 
evenings have become warm. But, about the year 1712, 
it ufea to open on the ill: of May. Are the feal'ons 
grown colder, or more backward ; or are we become more 
tender and effeminate ? At the time we fpeak of, how¬ 
ever, (Speitator, N° 383.) no mention is made of mufic 
or lamps ; the refreflnnents were mead, Burton ale, and 
bung beef. Sir -Roger de Coverley obferved, that lie 
wiffied there were more nightingales and fewer ftrumpets; 
the lame remark might be made now, after the lapfe of 
a full, century; to which we may add, that the ftrumpets, 
•who at that time wore mafks, are now bare-faced enough. 
Vauxhall had no vocal entertainments till the year 1745, 
when Mrs. Arne, Mr. Lowe, and Mr. Reinhold, i'en. 
were engaged. See the article Lambeth, vol. xii. p. 103. 
Ranelagh was planned by Lacy and Garrick, patentees 
of Drury-lane, about the year 1743 or 4. The<. perfor¬ 
mances at firft were in a morning; and oratorio-chorufles 
chiefly furnilhed the bill of fare. Afterwards the doors 
opened at 6 in the evening, the performances began at 8, 
and doled at jo. 
Marybone Gardens flourifhed from the year 1740 till 
about 177J. See the article London, vol.xiii. p. 577. 
The arrival of Giardini in London (in the year 1750) 
forms a memorable aera in the hiftory of mufic in Eng¬ 
land. His powers on the violin were unequalled. He 
was a native of Piedmont; and when a boy was a 
chorifter in the Duomo at Milan, under Paladini, of 
whom he learned finging, the harplichord, and compofi- 
tion ; but, having previoufly manifefted a difpofition and 
partiality for the violin, his father recalled him to Turin, 
in order to receive inftrudtions on that inftrument of the 
famous Somis. Though his preference of the violin, 
upon which he became the greatell performer in Europe, 
feems a lucky circumftance, yet he had talents which 
would have made him a fuperior harpfichord-player, had 
he continued to praitil’e that inftrument; but he uled to 
fay, that he was perfectly cured of that vanity at Paris, 
by the performance of Mad. de St. Maur, a leholar of 
Rameau, who played in fuch a manner as not only made 
him allnamed of his own performance, but determined 
him never to touch the inftrument again in ferious prac¬ 
tice. He went to Rome early in his life, and afterwards to 
Naples, where, having obtained a place among the ripienos 
in the opera-orcheftra, he ufed to flourilh and change 
paffages much more frequently than he ought to have 
done. “ However,” fays Giardini, “ I acquired great re¬ 
putation among the ignorant for my impertinence; yet 
one night, during the opera, jomelli, who had compoled 
it, came into the orcheftra; and, feating himfelf clofe 
by me, I determined to give the maeftro di capella a 
touch of my tafte and execution ; and, in the fympliony 
to the next fong, which was in a pathetic ftyle, I gave 
loofe to my fingers and fancy; for which I was rewarded 
by the compofer with a—violent flap in the face ; which,” 
adds Giardini, “ was the bell leffon I ever received from 
a great mailer in my life.” jomelli, after this,-was how¬ 
ever very kind, in a different way, to this young and 
wonderful mufician. 
Giardini came to England in the fpring of 1750. His 
firft public performance in London was at a benefit-con¬ 
cert for old Cuzzoni, who lung in it with a thin cracked 
voice, which almoft frightened out of the little theatre 
in the Haymarket the Tons of thofe who had perhaps 
heard her at the great theatre in the fame ftreet with 
ecltafy. But when Giardini played a folo and concerto, 
though there was very little company, the applaufe was 
fo loud, long, and furious, as nothing but that bellowed 
on Garrick had ever equalled. We had met him the 
night before (fays Burney,) at a private concert, with 
Guadagni and Frafi, at the houfe of Napthali Franks, 
elq. who was himfelf one of the bell dilettanti performers 
on the violin at that time; and we were ail equally fur- 
prifed and delighted with the various powers of Giardini 
at fo early a period of his life; when, befides folos of his 
own compofition of the moft brilliant kind, he played 
feveral ofTartini’s, in manufeript, at fight, and at five 
or fix feet diftance from the notes, as well as if he had 
never praitifed anything elfe. “ His tone; bow; exe¬ 
cution; graceful carriage of himfelf and his inftrument; 
performing a manufcript-piece of a young compofer in 
the room, he declared that Giardini had lo improved it 
as to make it better than he intended, or had imagined 
it to be in the warm moments of conception ; and laftly, 
playing variations extempore, during half an hour, upon 
a new but extraordinary kind of birth-day minuet, which 
accidentally lay on the harpfichprd—"all this threw into 
