Opera Essentials: Giustino

Handel’s Giustino is an opera depicting a young man’s rise to fame and glory from lowly beginnings. Based on the real-life story of the Byzantine Emperor Justin in the sixth century, Giustino uses historical events as the starting point for a fantastical coming-of-age tale. In the opera, the hero, Giustino, navigates a path from youthful innocence to the sexual and political complexities of adulthood, via an encounter with a sea monster, and two counts of courtly intrigue. Not to be confused with Vivaldi’s 1724 opera of the same name, Handel’s Giustino was first performed in 1737 in Covent Garden, and you can find out more about this rarely-staged work below. 

To learn about the life and works of George Frideric Handel, go to our Handel Creative Spotlight page. 

What is the plot of Giustino?   

When was Giustino first performed?   

Who wrote the Libretto for Giustino?   

What is a Da Capo Aria?  

What is an Opera Seria?   

 Giustino (alto castrato)  

Anastasio (soprano castrato)  

Arianna, widow of the emperor (soprano)  

Leocasta (contralto)  

Amanzio (contralto)  

Vitaliano (tenor)  

Polidarte (bass)  

La Fortuna (treble)

Act I 

At court, the widowed Empress, Arianna, is crowning a new Emperor consort: her second husband, Anastasio. The celebrations are interrupted by General Amanzio, who reports that the kingdom is under threat from a rebel leader, Vitiliano. A messenger relays Vitiliano’s demands: Arianna must surrender to him. She refuses. Emperor Antastasio departs to fight Vitiliano in battle, and Arianna follows. 

In the countryside, a young ploughboy is visited in a dream by the Goddess, Fortuna, who tells him that a great destiny awaits him. He wakes and immediately rescues a woman from a bear. The woman is Empress Arianna’s sister, Leocasta, and she and Giustino are immediately attracted to one another. Leocasta brings Giustino to court, where he is hailed as Leocasta’s champion. He sets out to prove himself in battle and rescue Arianna.  

Arianna has been captured by Vitiliano, but when she refuses to surrender to his demands, he vows to leave her at the mercy of a sea monster. Arianna reaffirms her loyalty to her husband. 

Act II 

Giustino rescues Arianna from the sea monster. He returns to court a hero, beloved by Leocasta, sparking jealousy in General Amanzio, who has ambitions of his own. The remorseful Vitiliano is captured and brought before Arianna. She sends him away to be executed. Giustino returns to battle, where he defeats the rebels. 

Act III 

Vitiliano escapes from prison and plots his revenge. General Amanzio deceives Emperor Anastasio into believing that Giustino has seduced his wife, Arianna. The Emperor sentences Giustino to death for treason, and banishes Arianna. Leocasta pleads with Anastasio, who lessons his sentence to exile. Alone, far from court, Giustino curses Fortuna, and falls asleep in exhaustion. Vitiliano approaches, ready to kill the sleeping hero, when he hears his dead father’s voice, warning him that he is about to murder his own brother. Vitiliano discovers the family mark (a star) on Giustino’s arm, and the brothers are reconciled. 

They return to court, where Amanzio is about to ascend the throne, having imprisoned Anastasio, Leocasta and Arianna. Giustino captures Amanzio and sends him off to be executed. In thanks, Anastasio offers him Arianna’s hand in marriage, and makes him co-regent of the kingdom. 

Born in Halle, Germany, Handel settled in England permanently from 1712. In the 1720s he built up a loyal following for his operas through his theatre company, the Royal Academy of Music (not to be confused with the modern-day conservatoire of the same name). In 1728, however, he began to face significant difficulties: at the Lincoln's Inn Fields Theatre, London, John Gay’s satirical opera, The Beggar’s Opera lampooned Handel’s operas, and was a huge box office success. Despite Handel's financial challenges, and the competition from rival company, The Opera of the Nobility, Handel remained determined to make new work, premiering some 25 operas at the Queen’s Theatre, Haymarket. In 1733, Handel set up a new company at the Theatre Royal, Covent Garden, on the site of what is now the Royal Opera House. Handel wrote the operas Ariodante and Alcina for Covent Garden, as well as the oratorios Alexander’s Feast, Samson,  Semele, Judas, Maccabeus, Joshua, Susanna, Solomon, Giustino and Jephtha – several of which have been performed at the Royal Opera House in recent years, as part of the Handel Covent Garden series. 

In 1737, the year Giustino was performed, Handel was engaged in an exceptionally busy Season. Alongside revivals of his earlier operas, Atalanta, Alcina, Poro and Partenope, he was also involved in presenting three new works for the stage, Arminio, Giustino and Berenice. On the concert platform, he was also presenting revivals of the oratorios Esther and Deborah, alongside a new oratorio, Alexander’s Feast, and a reworking of his 1708 oratorio, Il trionfo del Tempo e del Disinganno, under the new title, Il trionfo del Tempo e della Verità. 

The libretto of Giustino 

The libretto for Giustino was adapted from an existing text (1711) by Pietro Pariati, which was in turn inspired by an earlier text (1682) by Nicolò Beregan. As was typical in Handel’s day, many other composers chose to set the same text to music. Prior to Handel’s version, a variety of settings of the Pariati text were composed by Antonio Vivaldi (1724), Tomaso Albinoni (1711), while the earlier Beregan text inspired operas by Domenico Scarlatti in 1703, and Giovanni Legrenzi in 1683.  

A Four Seasons Connection 

Vivaldi’s 1724 Giustino was composed for Rome’s carnival season, and although it is rarely staged today, one of its arias, Vedrò con mio diletto, is popular as a standalone work in recital, while a motif from the Sinfonia from Act I Scene V was used by Vivaldi in La Primavera (‘Spring’) from his popular violin concerto, The Four Seasons.  

Premiere and Reception 

Why did Handel choose the tale of a humble ploughboy who rose to fame? The story of Giustino may not seem like an obvious homage to King George I (who ruled from 1714-27) or King George II (1727-60), but the Hanoverian dynasty (from which both Kings were descended) was relatively obscure in the line of succession before coming to the throne. It is therefore possible that Handel’s opera would have been seen as a parable of the Haverian rise to glory. There is also, arguably, a parallel with Handel's own story, of a foreign composer who rose to dominate the English opera scene. 

Handel completed the composition of Giustino in 1736, but by early 1737, his health had begun to suffer (he would later suffer a stroke in April 1737). The premiere of Giustino took place on 16 February 1737. The opera did not enjoy an overly warm reception, and it closed after eight performances in Covent Garden. It is likely that Handel was forced to withdraw from conducting the performances due to ill health. It is also possible that the stress of running his opera company, the demands of a busy Season, and the fickleness of public taste, may have all taken their toll on the composer. 

Giustino was subsequently performed in Brunswick (Braunschweig), Germany, in 1741, after which the next recorded performance took place in 1963, in Abingdon, in the early days of the revival of interest in Handel’s works. Online sources suggest that the opera was later performed in London in 1983.  

Giustino is based on the story of Justin I, the sixth-century Eastern Roman Emperor. He was alive during the era of the Byzantine Empire, also known as the Eastern Roman Empire, which lasted from 330-1453 AD. Born in 450 AD in Bederiana (part of modern-day Macedonia), Justin was born into a humble peasant family, and was a swineherd or ploughboy. Thanks to his military successes, he rose through the army’s ranks, becoming commander of the Imperial Guard. In 518, at the age of 68, he was made Eastern Roman Emperor and ruled for 9 years, founding a dynasty that lasted for three generations.  

In Handel’s opera, the Roman goddess, Fortuna, makes an appearance in the opera. As the goddess of fortune, luck and chance, she is often depicted with a wheel, a rudder and a cornucopia, representing cyclical fate, the control of destiny, and abundance. 

With its story of seascapes, palaces and mythical monsters, Giustino has a richly varied musical score, and the text inspired some wonderfully vivid music from Handel. The unusual overture features an extended oboe solo (written for the virtuoso instrumentalist Giuseppe Sammartini) that almost turns into a concerto in its own right, and vocal fireworks abound, as heard in Giustino’s heroic aria, ‘Se parla nel mio cor’, and Anastasio’s valiant ‘Un vostro sguardo’. 

Following the mockery of Handel’s operas by John Gay’s hugely popular 1728 satire, The Beggar’s Opera, The Haymarket Theatre premiered the burlesque opera, ‘The Dragon of Wantley’ in 1737, with music by John Frederick Lampe, and text by Henry Carey. Lampe's opera was inspired by a popular ballad of the same name, and this satirical work lampooned the taxation policies of Prime Minister Robert Walpole as well as taking aim at the flamboyant musical style of Handel’s operas. The plot of The Dragon of Wantley featured a monstrous dragon slain by a hero – quite possibly a reference to the sea monster in Giustino. Lampe's opera ran for 69 consecutive showings (eclipsing Giustino’s run of 8 performances) breaking The Beggar’s Opera record of 62 performances – the longest theatre run in the UK and second-longest theatre run in history at the time.