Alessandro (opera)
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

''Alessandro'' ( HWV 21), is an
opera Opera is a form of theatre in which music is a fundamental component and dramatic roles are taken by singers. Such a "work" (the literal translation of the Italian word "opera") is typically a collaboration between a composer and a librett ...
composed by
George Frideric Handel George Frideric (or Frederick) Handel (; baptised , ; 23 February 1685 – 14 April 1759) was a German-British Baroque music, Baroque composer well known for his opera#Baroque era, operas, oratorios, anthems, concerto grosso, concerti grossi, ...
in 1726 for the
Royal Academy of Music The Royal Academy of Music (RAM) in London, England, is the oldest conservatoire in the UK, founded in 1822 by John Fane and Nicolas-Charles Bochsa. It received its royal charter in 1830 from King George IV with the support of the first Duke of ...
.
Paolo Rolli Paolo Antonio Rolli (13 June 1687 – 20 March 1765) was an Italian Libretto, librettist, poet and translator. Biography Paolo Rolli was born in Rome, Italy and like Metastasio was trained by Gian Vincenzo Gravina. The Richard Boyle, 3rd ...
's
libretto A libretto (Italian for "booklet") is the text used in, or intended for, an extended musical work such as an opera, operetta, masque, oratorio, cantata or Musical theatre, musical. The term ''libretto'' is also sometimes used to refer to the t ...
is based on the story of Ortensio Mauro's ''La superbia d'Alessandro''. This was the first time the famous singers
Faustina Bordoni Faustina Bordoni (30 March 1697 – 4 November 1781) was an Italian mezzo-soprano. In Hamburg, Germany, the Johann Adolph Hasse Museum is dedicated to her husband and partly to Bordoni. Early career She was born in Venice and brought up unde ...
and
Francesca Cuzzoni Francesca Cuzzoni (2 April 1696 – 19 June 1778) was an Italian operatic soprano of the Baroque era. Early career Cuzzoni was born in Parma. Her father, Angelo, was a professional violinist, and her singing teacher was Francesco Lanzi. She ma ...
appeared together in one of Handel's operas. The original cast also included Francesco Bernardi who was known as
Senesino Francesco Bernardi (; 31 October 1686 – 27 November 1758), known as Senesino ( or traditionally ), was a celebrated Italian contralto castrato, particularly remembered today for his long collaboration with the composer George Frideric Handel ...
. Handel had originally planned ''Alessandro'' to be his first contribution to the 1725/1726 season of the Royal Academy. However, Bordoni did not arrive in London in time to stage ''Alessandro'', and Handel substituted his own ''
Scipione ''Scipione'' ( HWV 20), also called ''Publio Cornelio Scipione'', is an opera seria in three acts, with music composed by George Frideric Handel for the Royal Academy of Music in 1726. The librettist was Paolo Antonio Rolli. Handel composed ''Sc ...
'' in March and April 1726 until her arrival. The opera received its first performance on 5 May 1726 at the
King's Theatre, London Her Majesty's Theatre is a West End theatre situated on Haymarket in the City of Westminster, London. The present building was designed by Charles J. Phipps and was constructed in 1897 for actor-manager Herbert Beerbohm Tree, who established ...
, and was received "with great applause". The story recounts
Alexander the Great Alexander III of Macedon ( grc, wikt:Ἀλέξανδρος, Ἀλέξανδρος, Alexandros; 20/21 July 356 BC – 10/11 June 323 BC), commonly known as Alexander the Great, was a king of the Ancient Greece, ancient Greek kingdom of Maced ...
's journey to India and depicts him less in a heroic vein than as vainglorious as well as indecisive in matters of the heart. The work's charm and lightness of touch make it at times almost a comic work. Handel would later revisit the subject of Alexander in his 1736 English-language ode, '' Alexander's Feast''.


Background

The German-born Handel, after spending some of his early career composing operas and other pieces in Italy, settled in London, where in 1711 he had brought Italian opera for the first time with his opera ''
Rinaldo Rinaldo may refer to: *Renaud de Montauban (also spelled Renaut, Renault, Italian: Rinaldo di Montalbano, Dutch: Reinout van Montalbaen, German: Reinhold von Montalban), a legendary knight in the medieval Matter of France * Rinaldo (''Jerusalem Lib ...
''. A tremendous success, ''Rinaldo'' created a craze in London for Italian opera seria, a form focused overwhelmingly on solo arias for the star virtuoso singers. In 1719, Handel was appointed
music director A music(al) director or director of music is the person responsible for the musical aspects of a performance, production, or organization. This would include the artistic director and usually chief conductor of an orchestra or concert band, the d ...
of an organisation called the Royal Academy of Music (unconnected with the present day London conservatoire), a company under royal charter to produce Italian operas in London. Handel was not only to compose operas for the company but hire the star singers, supervise the orchestra and musicians, and adapt operas from Italy for London performance. Handel had composed numerous Italian operas for the Academy, with varying degrees of success; some were enormously popular. In February 1726 Handel revived his ''
Ottone ''Ottone, re di Germania'' ("Otto, King of Germany", HWV 15) is an opera by George Frideric Handel, to an Italian–language libretto adapted by Nicola Francesco Haym from the libretto by Stefano Benedetto Pallavicino for Antonio Lotti's opera ...
'', which had been spectacularly successful at its first performances in 1723 and was again a hit at its revival, with a London newspaper reporting
Handel had the satisfaction of seeing an Old Opera of his not only fill the House, which had not been done for some time, but above three hundred turn'd away for want of room.
As the newspaper notes, full houses were by no means a regular occurrence by that time, and the directors of the Royal Academy of Music decided to increase audiences' interest by bringing another celebrated international opera star, Italian soprano Faustina Bordoni, to join established London favourites Francesca Cuzzoni and the star castrato Senesino in the company's performances. Many opera companies in Italy featured two leading ladies in one opera and Faustina (as she was known) and Cuzzoni had appeared together in opera performances in various European cities with no trouble; there is no indication that there was any bad feeling or ill-will between the two of them prior to their London joint appearances. The three stars, Bordoni, Cuzzoni and Senesino commanded astronomical fees, making much more money from the opera seasons than Handel did. The opera company would have been aware that the story of the two princesses in love with Alexander the Great chosen for the two prima donnas' first joint appearance was familiar to London audiences through a tragedy by
Nathaniel Lee Nathaniel Lee (c. 1653 – 6 May 1692) was an England, English dramatist. He was the son of Dr Richard Lee, a Presbyterian clergyman who was rector of Hatfield and held many preferments under the Commonwealth of England, Commonwealth; Dr Lee was ...
, ''The Rival Queens, or the Death of Alexander the Great'', first performed in 1677 and often revived and it may be that they were encouraging the idea that the two singers were rivals. One of the agents who had arranged Faustina's appearances in London,
Owen Swiny Owen Swiny (Also spelled McSwiny, Swiney, MacSwiny or MacSwinny) (1676, near Enniscorthy, Ireland – 2 October 1754) was an Irish theatre impresario and art dealer active in London known for his work in popularising Italian opera in London ...
, explicitly warned against the choice of libretto as likely to cause "disorder" in a letter to the directors of the Royal Academy of Music, imploring them:
never to consent to any thing that can put the Academy into disorder, as it must, certainly, if what I hear ... is put in Execution: I mean the opera of Alexander the great; where there is to be a Struggle between the Rival , for a Superiority.
The performances of ''Alessandro'' went off with no signs of animosity between Bordoni and Cuzzoni or their respective supporters, but it was not very long after that tension between the two erupted. As 18th century musicologist
Charles Burney Charles Burney (7 April 1726 – 12 April 1814) was an English music historian, composer and musician. He was the father of the writers Frances Burney and Sarah Burney, of the explorer James Burney, and of Charles Burney, a classicist a ...
observed about the Cuzzoni / Faustina rivalry, which became acute around the time of the performances of a subsequent Handel opera, ''
Admeto ' ("Admetus, King of Thessaly", HWV 22) is a three-act opera written for the Royal Academy of Music with music composed by George Frideric Handel to an Italian-language libretto prepared by Nicola Francesco Haym. The story is partly based on Eu ...
'':
it seems impossible for two singers of equal merit to tread the stage ''a parte eguale'', as for two people to ride on the same horse, without one being behind.
The Royal Academy of Music collapsed at the end of the 1728/1729 season, partly due to the huge fees paid to the star singers, and Cuzzoni and Faustina both left London for engagements in continental Europe. Handel started a new opera company with a new prima donna,
Anna Strada Anna Maria Strada (floruit, fl. 1719–1741, in Bergamo) was an Italian soprano. She is best remembered for her association with the composer George Frideric Handel, in whose operas Strada sang. Career After an initial career in Italy that inc ...
. One of Handel's librettists,
Paolo Rolli Paolo Antonio Rolli (13 June 1687 – 20 March 1765) was an Italian Libretto, librettist, poet and translator. Biography Paolo Rolli was born in Rome, Italy and like Metastasio was trained by Gian Vincenzo Gravina. The Richard Boyle, 3rd ...
, wrote in a letter (the original is in Italian) that Handel said that Strada "sings better than the two who have left us, because one of them (Faustina) never pleased him at all and he would like to forget the other (Cuzzoni)."


Roles


Synopsis

:Place: Oxidraca, India :Time: Approx. 326 BC


Act 1

A battle is in progress with Alessandro (Alexander the Great), besieging the Indian city of Oxidraca. Despite the many victories he has won elsewhere, the city's defenders get the best of his army and he is in personal danger when he is rescued by his general Clito (
Clitus the Black Cleitus the Black ( grc-gre, Κλεῖτος ὁ μέλας; c. 375 BC – 328 BC), was an officer of the Macedonian army led by Alexander the Great. He saved Alexander's life at the Battle of the Granicus in 334 BC and was killed by him in a drunk ...
), Prince of Macedonia. In Alexander's camp, two princesses, both in love with Alessandro, are much concerned for his safety—Lisaura, a princess of Scythia, and Rossane (
Roxana Roxana (c. 340 BC – 310 BC, grc, Ῥωξάνη; Old Iranian: ''*Raṷxšnā-'' "shining, radiant, brilliant"; sometimes Roxanne, Roxanna, Rukhsana, Roxandra and Roxane) was a Sogdian or a Bactrian princess whom Alexander the Great married a ...
), a princess taken captive by Alessandro in his previous campaign in Persia. The rival princesses are tormented by jealousy for Alessandro seems unable to make up his mind which of them he prefers. The Indian King Tassile, whose life Alessandro saved and whose throne he restored, brings the glad tidings to the princesses that Alessandro is safe and unharmed. Both ladies are overjoyed at the news, which grieves Tassile, as he is hopelessly smitten with Princess Lisaura. In the temple of Jupiter, Alessandro gives thanks for yet another glorious victory, but his apparent invincibility has gone to his head. He announces that he is a god, the son of the divine Jupiter, and orders that he shall be worshiped as such. General Clito protests at this sacrilege, enraging Alessandro, who orders Clito's execution, but he eventually yields to pleas from the princesses to show mercy.


Act 2

Alessandro, finding both princesses captivating, still cannot decide between the two of them. He encourages them both equally, which drives the ladies to distraction. Rossane, a captive, makes melting appeals to Alessandro to free her and show his magnanimity. Alessandro hesitates to do so, fearing that she will then leave him, but finally agrees to release her from her bondage. Meanwhile, General Leonato and others of Alessandro's officers are appalled at his seeming descent into insane megalomania, and they plot to assassinate him. In Alessandro's quarters, he announces to the assembled generals that he intends to divide the vast territories he has conquered between them and give them all away. His status as a living god to be worshiped will suffice for him. General Clito is once again compelled by his conscience to denounce such arrogance, whereupon Alessandro is about to run him through with his sword, but suddenly, as part of a plot by the conspirators, the roof caves in. Miraculously, no one is injured, which only reinforces Alessandro's conviction that he is beloved of the gods. Alessandro orders his sycophantic follower Cleone to lead Clito to jail. Rossane has heard of the assassination attempt on Alessandro and believes it to have been successful. She weeps and mourns in despair, and Alessandro, overhearing this, is deeply touched by such devotion and decides she will be the woman of his choice. No sooner has he made this clear to her, however, than King Tassile brings the news that the people of Oxidraca, who seemed to have been finally conquered, are staging a revolt. Alessandro rushes to battle, leaving Rossane once again anxiously praying for his safety.


Act 3

General Leonato frees Clito from prison and throws Cleone in jail instead, but Cleone is also released by his supporters. The conspirators are now resolved to wage open warfare against their former leader, Alessandro, leading large parts of his army in a mutiny. Cleone is aware of this plot and informs Alessandro. Alessandro, having decided to take Rossane as wife, breaks the news gently to Princess Lisaura, explaining that he is not good enough for her and that King Tassile, his dearest friend, loves her and he must not stand in the way of Tassile making Lisaura his queen. Tassile is overjoyed. The conspirators and the mutinous army launch into battle against Alessandro, but King Tassile supports him with his troops and the conspirators are defeated. They beg for mercy, which Alessandro generously grants. Alessandro will marry Rossane, Tassile will have Lisaura, all are forgiven and praise the great hero's magnanimity.


Musical features

After the overture, the opera begins with rousing battle music featuring trumpet and drums. Handel is very careful to give both leading ladies equal opportunities; they make their entrances simultaneously and they have an equal number of arias and one duet together. Handel differentiates between the two princesses through his music; Lisaura is given melancholy and expressive music with a pensive and brooding quality, whereas the music for Rossane portrays her as scheming and spirited with some vocal writing of enormous virtuoso demands. For
Paul Henry Lang Paul Henry Lang (August 28, 1901 – September 21, 1991) was a Hungarian-American musicologist and music critic. Career Lang was born as "Pál Láng" in Budapest, Hungary, and was educated in Catholic schools. In 1918, as World War I was coming ...
, Rossane's love music in act two as she waits for Alessandro is "Handel at his idylllic-pastoral best". The opera is scored for two recorders, two oboes, bassoon, two trumpets, two horns, strings and continuo (cello, double bass, lute, harpsichord).


Reception and performance history

''Alessandro'' was a resounding success, with a run of thirteen performances, which would have been greater had Senesino not become indisposed necessitating cancellation of more. Lady Sarah Cowper complained in a letter that it was difficult to get tickets. Handel revived the work in his seasons of 1727 and 1732.
Horace Walpole Horatio Walpole (), 4th Earl of Orford (24 September 1717 – 2 March 1797), better known as Horace Walpole, was an English writer, art historian, man of letters, antiquarian, and Whigs (British political party), Whig politician. He had Strawb ...
recalled years later that at the performance he saw, during the opening scene depicting the siege of Oxidraca, Senesino "So far forgot himself in the heat of the conquest, as to stick his sword into one of the pasteboard stones of the wall of the town, and bore it in triumph before him." As with all Baroque opera seria, ''Alessandro'' went unperformed for many years, but with the revival of interest in Baroque music and historically informed musical performance since the 1960s,''Alessandro'', like all Handel operas, receives performances at festivals and opera houses today. Among other performances, ''Alessandro'' was produced at the
Badisches Staatstheater Karlsruhe The Badisches Staatstheater Karlsruhe is a theatre and opera house in Karlsruhe, Germany. It has existed in its present form and place at Ettlinger Tor since 1975. Achim Thorwald became the Intendant in summer 2002 and held that post until the en ...
in 2012, at the
Palace of Versailles The Palace of Versailles ( ; french: Château de Versailles ) is a former royal residence built by King Louis XIV located in Versailles, Yvelines, Versailles, about west of Paris, France. The palace is owned by the French Republic and since 19 ...
as part of the Versailles Festival in May and June 2013, and at the Athens Festival also in 2013.


Recordings


References

Notes Sources * * The second of the two-volume definitive reference on the operas of Handel


External links


Italian libretto

Score
of ''Alessandro'' (ed.
Friedrich Chrysander Karl Franz Friedrich Chrysander (8 July 1826 – 3 September 1901) was a German music historian, critic and publisher, whose edition of the works of George Frideric Handel and authoritative writings on many other composers established him as a ...
, Leipzig 1877) * {{Authority control Operas by George Frideric Handel Operas 1726 operas Operas set in India Operas set in ancient Greece Cultural depictions of Alexander the Great Operas set in Pakistan