He was England’s German-born composer, a favourite of George I, who wrote some of the greatest music in history. Now film-makers are set to do for Handel what they did for Mozart in bringing him to life on the big screen.

Two decades after Milos Forman’s Amadeus won eight Oscars, Stephen Fry has bought the rights to a screenplay about the musical genius whose Messiah is one of the most famous pieces of music ever written. The film will tell the story of Handel and that of one of his favourite singers.

Susannah Cibber scandalised 18th-century London with an affair that led to her jealous husband gambling her away. The disgraced singer fled to Dublin, where she took part in the première of Messiah in 1742, overcoming protests from church authorities.

Under the working title of Hallelujah!, the film will be directed by Fry. Gina Carter, the producer, said: “It is a really exciting script, very pacey and a good, strong story. Handel was a great big character.” The composer spent most of his adult life in England. In 1727 he became a British citizen, writing four anthems for the Coronation of George II.

Hallelujah! is written by Nicholas Adams, who has been researching Handel for five years. Although he told The Times that his story was based on fact, he acknowledged that they were “not making a documentary”.

Cibber, the sister of Thomas Arne, composer of Rule Britannia!, was pushed by her family into marrying the physically repulsive Theophilus Cibber because he came from an important theatrical family. Theophilus took his wife’s seducer, William Sloper, to court in 1738 on a charge of “criminal conversation”. Seeking compensation for the loss of her “services”, he sued Sloper for £5,000. Theophilus won the case but suffered the indignity of being awarded only £10.

An engraving of court proceedings shows Cibber reclining on a bed naked. Sloper is shown removing bedclothes from her, her husband is at the foot of the bed and the landlord and his wife are peering in from behind a door.

Martin Wyatt, the deputy director of the Handel House Museum in Brook Street, Central London, hopes to include the engraving as part of its spring exhibition on Handel and the Divas. He said that despite suggestions of a romantic liaison with Cibber, Handel was not known to have had a relationship with anyone. “He had lots of friends of both sexes. He was a nice man with a great sense of humour.”

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