Alessandro (opera)

Alessandro (Alexander the Great, HWV 21) is an opera composed by George Frideric Handel in 1726. Paolo Rolli was the librettist and based the story on Ortensio Mauro's La superbia d'Alessandro. This was the first opera where Handel had cast together in the same opera the famous singers Faustina Bordoni, as Rossane, and Francesca Cuzzoni, as Lisaura. Handel made use of their real-life professional rivalry in his treatment of the story. The original cast also included Francesco Bernardi.

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 in March and April of 1726 until her arrival. The opera received its first performance on 5 May 1726 at the King's Theatre, London.

The story is based around Alexander the Great's journey to India, where he meets Poro, the king of India, who was the subject of another Handel opera of that name.

Synopsis
Alessandro comes to believe that he is the son of the god Jupiter. His delusion is such that he demands to be worshipped as a god. His Macedonian captains conspire to cure him of this belief, but their efforts are weak. During the course of the work, Rossane and Lisaura are rivals for the affection of Alessandro.

Selected recordings
Deutsche Harmonia Mundi IC 157 16 9537 3: René Jacobs, Sophie Boulin, Isabelle Poulenard, Jean Nirouet, Stephen Varcoe, Guy de Mey, Ria Bollen; La Petite Bande; Sigiswald Kuijken, conductor

E-book
Score of Alessandro (ed. Friedrich Chrysander, Leipzig 1877)