by PEGGIE SAMPSON It has been said that Porpora was the greatest singing master that ever lived.
A contemporary of Handel, he spent two or three years of his erratic career in London directing an operatic enterprise in opposition to Handel, in which he had the backing of a good part of influential London. None of his own operas, however, have survived, although he is supposed to have composed no fewer than thirty-three, as well as numerous oratorios, masses, and smaller vocal and instrumental pieces. It is in some of these last that his best qualities are displayed, and this melodious sonata is a good example of his style.