Alessandro nell'Indie (Metastasio)
It was set to music around ninety times[2] firstly by Leonardo Vinci, whose version premiered in Rome on 2 January 1730.
[5] The libretto tells the story of the Indian campaign of Alexander the Great and his defeat of king Porus in 326 BCE at the Battle of the Hydaspes.
The action takes place on the banks of the Hydaspes, where Alexander's camp stands on one side of the river and the residence of Cleofide on the other.
[1][4] Roles The following plot summary is based on the setting by Carl Heinrich Graun in his 1774 opera, Alessandro e Poro.
[digital 1] The Indian camp after Porus' defeat At the end of the overture, warlike music and the sound of guns can be heard.
However, when Cleofide asks Erissena, who has just arrived, whether Alessandro had spoken of her, his jealousy is immediately rekindled.
Cleofide tries to appease Alessandro and invites him to her residence to find out Poro's real intentions.
In order to punish Poro for his renewed jealousy, Cleofide now declares her love for Alessandro.
[digital 1] Room in Cleofide's Palace Poro and Gandarte plan to seize the bridge over the Hydaspes, counting on the support of Timagene.
When Erissena reports Alessandro's arrival, Poro thinks again of Cleofide's alleged infidelity.
Cleofide begs the fleeing Poro not to leave her, but only when she threatens to plunge into the river and finally promises him marriage does he give in.
With the enemy approaching, Poro pulls out his dagger to kill both Cleofide and himself, but Alessandro snatches it from him.
[digital 1] Covered colonnade in the palace garden Erissena meets Poro, who is believed to be dead, but the report of his death was only spread by Timagene for his own protection after he released him.
[digital 1] Alessandro comes back with two guards and reports to Erissena that Timagene has uncovered a planned ambush.
When Timagene replies that mercy would be out if the question in such a case, Alessandro shows him the incriminating letter.
[digital 1] Temple of Bacchus with a burning funeral pyre Alessandro and Cleofide enter with their retinue.
In return, Poro rewards Gandarte's steadfastness with the hand of his sister Erissena, and Alessandro gives him the land beyond the Ganges as a gift.
These included the 1648 play Porus ou La générosité d'Alexandre by Claude Boyer as well as Jean Racine's 1665 Alexandre le grand.
There are further similarities with Domenico David's [de] 1691 L'amante eroe, set to music by Marc'Antonio Ziani and performed in Venice.
David had already provided the model for Metastasio's first libretto Siface, re di Numidia.
Firstly he introduced the jealousy motive with Porus, creating a tension between him and Cleofide not found in earlier works.
The magnanimous Alessandro opposes the treacherous Timagene, and the couples also complement each other with their contrasting main features: the jealous Poro combines with the faithful Cleofide, the reliable Gandarte with the coquettish Erissena.
[6][1] Other important settings of the libretto included those by Johann Adolph Hasse, Luigi Gatti and Giovanni Pacini.
Handel replaced various arias in Metastasio's text with new ones which he considered to have greater dramatic expression.
Furthermore, as the baritone who was to play Timagene, Giovanni Commano, was not a strong singer, so Handel cut much of the material his role was to have sung.
[3]: 122–125 Handel's version was sung at least 27 times at the Hamburg Gänsemarkt-Oper under the title Triumph der Grossmuth und Treue, oder CLEOFIDA, Königin von Indien with a German translation of the recitative by Christoph Gottlieb Wend [de].
[7][8] Metastasio also created a shortened version of the libretto in 1753 for his friend Farinelli (Carlo Broschi).
