Most music lovers have encountered Handel through holiday time renditions of Messiah’s “Hallelujah” chorus. Many of them know and love the oratorio of Christ’s life and death and a few other greatest hits, such as the orchestral Water Music and Royal Fireworks Music, Judas Maccabaeus, and other English oratorios. Handel was born in the German city of Halle on February 23, 1685. In 1708, Handel traveled to Italy, then the font of operatic innovation, and mastered Italian opera seria (serious opera.)