Handel was born in 1685 in Halle, Duchy of Magdeburg. He received his education there where he learned to play the harpsichord, organ, violin and oboe. He began composing in Halle and held regular musician jobs. Part of his education involved copying the compositions of other composers. It is important to know that Rossini also did this, and probably others. Today we just put it on the copy machine. His skills at orchestration may come from this.
From 1705-1709 He traveled to Italy, initially at the invitation of one of the Medicis. In this period he composed Agrippina for Venice and Il Trionfo del Tempo e del Disinganno for Rome.
Each of these is in the style of the city where he stayed. Agrippina was recently performed at the Metropolitan Opera to great success.
In 1710 Handel moved to London where he initially composed Italian operas in the Neapolitan style. Eventually he settled in England where he worked primarily as a composer of Neapolitan Opera. He brought castrati with him from the continent. Giulio Cesare is for our ears his best opera.
In 1728 the hit theatrical work in London was John Gay's The Beggar's Opera, a much lighter and sillier work than any Neapolitan opera. Interest in Italian opera diminished, leading Handel to adopt a far more English form: the oratorio. An oratorio differs from an opera primarily in the extensive use of chorus. The most famous example of any piece from the entire Baroque period is Handel's Messiah.
An oratorio often performed as an opera is Semele.
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