Handel seemed the person best adapted to assist in this undertaking. Since 1705 there had been an Italian opera in London, but it did not flourish. For this Handel wrote in two weeks his opera "Rinaldo." This was the first work with which he stepped before the English public. It was produced for the first time at the Haymarket Theatre and proved so successful that it was repeated fourteen times in the same season. The text had been written in English verse by Aaron Hill, the director of the opera-house. It was then translated into Italian and employed in this form by Handel. His position in England was assured by this opera. He had even been permitted to play before Queen Anne and gained her approval. When he left in order to resume his duties in Hanover, the English were loath to spare him, and constantly expressed the hope that he would soon return. In former years, under the elector Ernst August, the Hanoverian court had possessed an opera-house, and Steffani had written for it a number of excellent works. The theatre indeed still remained in the princely palace on the Leine, but there were no operatic performances in the reign of elector Georg Ludwig. Handel's activity was restricted to the leadership of the chamber music performed at Court, and that which was ordered on the occasion of special festivities. For his model in composition he took his predecessor, Steffani, whose strength and artistic importance lie in his chamber duets ("_Duetti da Camera_"). The solo parts of the chamber cantata originated by Carissimi are dramatic in character, while the duets of Steffani are lyric. He did not aim to represent well-defined musical characters in his duets, but to express lyric feeling in a general way, in the development of which both voices are made to blend artistically in polyphonic style. In Italy, Handel had occupied himself especially with the solo cantata; in Hanover he devoted himself to the duet, and a considerable number of these exquisite compositions are still preserved. But with a mind full of grand conceptions and a constant craving for publicity, it is easy to understand that he could not long content himself at the Hanoverian court and was strongly attracted to London. Wishing to visit that city in the autumn of 1712, he begged for a new leave of absence and received it, but with the proviso that "he should engage to return within a reasonable time." This condition he did not fulfil, nor did he ever again return to Hanover. After having confirmed himself in the good will of the English public by means of two new operas, and found favor with the queen by writing an ode for her birthday (Feb. 6, 1713), he was commissioned by the latter to compose the music for the public celebration of the Peace of Utrecht. The queen had won for herself so much credit through the speedy termination of the war of the Spanish Succession that she was inclined for a celebration and desired a brilliant festival. To this Handel contributed in fullest