Inspired and not-so-inspired

Reinhard Keiser is not a name that triggers many associations in most opera lovers’ minds, even the most frenzied devotees of the Baroque. He was a big figure in his time, though, and there have been odd recordings of his works, so he ranks with Traetta and Cimarosa from later in the 18th century as someone to arouse curiosity. With each of these composers, as with many others, I have had the experience of turning on the radio and hearing a stretch of their works without knowing what the music was, and finding I had to listen to the end because what I was hearing was impressive enough for me to want to hear more. Often enough it’s a matter of finding the music so similar to that of one of the great composers that one wonders whether it’s a work by Mozart, say, or in Keiser’s case Handel, which has escaped one’s attention (not difficult in the case of Handel).