#17 Handel's Messiah

Susannah Cibber arrives in Dublin, and her performance is a big disaster - but then the viceroy asserts himself! When exactly Handel and Cibber first meet in Dublin, and at what point Handel decides to let her sing one of the most important parts of Messiah is unknown. Susannah Cibber had had singing parts since the beginning of her career, but she became famous for her acting. Her voice was described as ‘sweet’ and ‘exceptionally expressive’. However, it was untrained. And what was worse was that she could not read music. Even though Handel was known for not accepting any singers who were not able to sight-read, he made an exception for Susannah Cibber. Hour by hour, day by day he would go through the oratorio with Susannah Cibber until, finally, she knew her part by heart.

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
You're listening to the seventeenth episode of Handle's Messiah, a
podcast Advan Calendar. Thanks for it is now time to

(00:51):
hear the story about Houses and a siber Handles Starr
in the first performance of Messiah ended up in Dublin.
Even though in the first instance Theophilus Sibby only managed
to get William Sloba to pay him ten pounds in
compensation for having run off with his wife, the court
case ruined Susanna Sibby's career. Certain other actresses from the

(01:13):
colorful theatrical world in London would have been able to
wither the storm. However, this was not the case for
Susanna because she was known as the quiet, prim and
pretty actress who would go to Mass every single day.
She was also still formally married to Theophilus, who could
forbid her to perform, which of course he did. Susanna

(01:37):
Siba and William Sloba hid in the country and only
very few people knew where they were. Here, Susanna gave
birth to their daughter, Molly. Theophilus still not got the
money from Slova that he wanted, so he sued him
yet again for five hundred pounds on what grounds this
time that Susannah had not returned to him and all

(01:59):
were ought to be with the husband's Therefore, Slovera was
forced to pay the five hundred pounds. This time, Susanna
Zibba's acting colleagues in London were shot by the treatment
she had been given. James Quinn, who had performed with
Susanna several times, showed his contempt for Theophilsiba by dragging

(02:20):
him from a pub one night and forcing him to
duel with him. Both men got hurt by the swartz
before somebody managed to separate them, probably as well that
they were separated, seeing as Quinn had previous conviction of
having killed another actor in a duel. Susanna's acting colleagues,
James Quinn and Kitty Clive, spent a lot of time

(02:42):
planning how to restore Susannah's honor so that she could
perform again. In the spring, they received a really good
offer of performing in one of Dublin's leading theaters. They
arrived in Dublin in June, and in the late summer
James Quinn wrote to Susanna Siba inviting her over to Dublin.
Some people might wonder why Susana Siba would accept this off.

(03:06):
She was far away from the evil gossip in London.
She lived a happy life in the countryside with William Sloper,
with whom she lived happily ever after with and had
another child. However, could it be that she missed being
on stage in front of an admiring audience. On the
third of December seventeen forty one, s Sana Siba arrived

(03:28):
in Dublin. Nine days later, she was on stage for
the first time in three years, and it was a disaster.
People did not show up because Dublin theater goers knew
about the scandal, so maybe being seen at a performance
that included a fallen woman was not such a good idea.

(03:49):
But then the Viceroy, the Duke of Devonshire, and his wife,
the Duchess of Devonshire intervened. One week after the disastrous performance,
they arranged a performance of Thomas Oddways Venice Preserved, in
which missus Cibber had the leading role as the innocent
but doomed bella mirror. Now Dublin's high society no longer

(04:11):
needed to repris their curiosity, and the ticket sales for
the next show were selling off like hotcakes. After that,
Susanna Zibba played to sold out audiences. When exactly Handel
and Sibba first met in Dublin and at what point
Handel decided to let her sing one of the most
important parts of Messiah is unknown. In March, she was

(04:34):
supposed to have sung works by Handel, but had to
cancel because of the flu Susanna had had singing parts
since the beginning of her career, but she became famous
for her acting. Her voice was described as sweet and
exceptionally expressive. However, it was untrained, and what was worse
that she could not read music. Even though Handel was

(04:57):
known for not accepting any singers who was not able
to sight read. We still remember the poor printer Jansen,
whom we met in an earlier episode. He always made
an exception for the Santa Siba. Hour by hour, day
by day, he would sit by his harvest court and
go through the oratorio with the Santa Siba until finally

(05:20):
she knew her part by heart beautative after that tide

(05:47):
hor beautiful, I mean ally it's closter is all