Handel’s Best Comeback

Smart singers stay on the good side of their accompanist. Great accompanists are rare: they need solo-level technique, deep musical taste, and the humility to put the singer first.

Yet singers often blame accompanists for their own mistakes. One singer tried that move on Handel, warning that if Handel didn’t accompany him better, he would jump onto the harpsichord and smash it.

Handel replied in his famously blunt accent: “Let me know when you will do that, and I will advertise it. I am sure more people will come to see you jump than will come to hear you sing.”

He never jumped.