Page:Romain Rolland Handel.djvu/60

52 with a view to becoming Abbé. He was appointed organist at the Court, and music-director. Since 1681 a set of his operas, played at Munich (and especially Servio Tullio in 1685 ), spread his renown through Germany. The Duke of Hanover enticed him to his Court, and in 1689 the new Hanoverian theatre was inaugurated by one of Steffani's operas, for which the Duchess Sophia furnished, it is said, the patriotic subject Henrico Leoni. Then followed a set of fifteen operas of which the mise en scène and music had an amazing popularity in Germany. Cousser introduced them at Hamburg as models of true Italian song, and Keiser modelled himself partly on them, ten years before Handel in his turn followed Keiser's pattern. The Opera did not enjoy a long life at Hanover. The Duke alone liked it. The Duchess Sophia had much less sympathy for this kind of art. The ballets and <!-- footnote continues on next page -- concatenated here