Cleofide
Appearance
Cleofide (Cleophis) is an opera seria in three acts by Johann Adolf Hasse. The libretto was by Metastasio, as adapted by Michelangelo Boccardi.
Performance history
Cleofide was first performed on 13 September 1731 at the Grosses Königliches Opernhaus am Zwingerhof in Dresden.
Hasse returned to the same subject for a new production at the Teatro San Giovanni Gristostomo in Venice on 4 November 1736, however the music was almost completely different. On that occasion, the original title of Metastasio's libretto was used: Alessandro nell'Indie.
Roles
Role | Voice type | Premiere Cast, 13 September 1731 (Conductor:) |
---|---|---|
Alessandro Magna (Alexander the Great) | soprano castrato | Domenico Annibali |
Poro (Porus), an Indian ruler | alto castrato | Domenico Campioli |
Cleofide (Cleophis) | soprano | Faustina Bordoni |
Erissena | soprano | Maria Santina Cattaneo |
Gandarte | soprano castrato | V. Rocchetti |
Timagene | alto castrato | Nicolò Pozzi |
Recordings
Hasse: Cleofide, Cappella Coloniensis
- Conductor: William Christie
- Roles (top to bottom): Erissena/Alessandro/Gandarte/Cleofide/Poro/Timagene
- Singers: Agnès Mellon/Dominique Visse/Randall Wong/Emma Kirkby/Derek Lee Ragin/David Cordier
- Recording date: 1986
- Label: Capriccio
References
- Amadeus Almanac, accessed 11 February 2011
- Hansell, Sven (1992), 'Cleofide' in The New Grove Dictionary of Opera, ed. Stanley Sadie (London) ISBN 0-333-73432-7