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Handel’s Blunder, Part 2

By
Georg Handel

Handel had never written more brilliantly, but when his oratorio Deborah opened in London in 1733, once-loyal audiences boycotted it, in part because of exorbitant ticket prices and in part because of a notorious misadventure with a case of Burgundy.

Handel had invited a scene-painter named Goupy to dinner at his house on Brook Street. The artist had created the scenery for several of Handel’s latest operas and was the drawing-master to the Prince of Wales. He was also a cartoonist with a bent for withering satire.

During the walk to dinner, Handel carefully explained that he was losing most of his money because of reversals at the theater, was practically in the poorhouse, and so dinner would be slim indeed. Handel was true to his word. The supper was minimal. Afterward, Handel excused himself, saying that he had some writing to do. He said that he had received an inspiration that he was eager to put down on paper. Goupy sat at the table and waited. And waited, but still Handel didn’t return.

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Then, chancing to look out the window, the artist caught sight of Handel in an adjoining room. He was enjoying a glass of Burgundy, having just been given a case of it by a highly connected friend. Being a wine-lover himself, the artist was offended, and he left the house resolving to take revenge the best way he knew how.

Soon afterward, two notorious cartoons were circulating around London. One of them was called “The Charming Brute” and it showed a hog seated at the organ surrounded by fine foods and wine. The hog’s face was that of George Frederick Handel.

Before long the cartoons had been published throughout England. Shopkeepers offered copies for sale. Handel had become the joke of the year, and Goupy was celebrated as a David who had slain a musical Goliath,–a giant who had dared to raise ticket prices above the reach of the common man.