Siroe (Metastasio)

Set to music by Leonardo Vinci, it was first performed on 2 February 1726 at the Teatro San Giovanni Grisostomo, Venice.

The background to these events is that Cosroe had previously defeated his opponent Asbite, king of Cambaia, and had his family murdered.

For this purpose, she has disguised herself as a man and found her way into Cosroe's court under the assumed name of Idaspe.

[1] The following plot summary is based on the second version of the setting by Johann Adolph Hasse, performed in Dresden in 1763.

After Emira/Idaspe leaves the temple, Laodice asks Siroe to finally confess his love.

[Digital 1] Cosroe's inner room Siroe wants to warn his father about Emira/Idaspe's revenge plan, but in order not to reveal his lover's identity, he writes an anonymous letter.

Medarse now claims that he wrote the letter himself and that the traitor was none other than Siroe, who he says wanted his help to murder their father.

Laodice is confused about Emira's/Idaspe's behavior, but Medarse believes that his intrigues will soon lead to his achieving his goal.

[Digital 1] The royal zoo Laodice regrets her actions, apologizes to Siroe and promises to speak to Cosroe to retract her false accusations.

Now Emira comes and accuses Siroe of infidelity and cowardice for not telling his father about her plan.

At that moment, Cosroe arrives and mistakenly thinks Siroe has drawn his sword against Idaspe.

With Cosroe now lost in thought about his son, Emira sees an opportunity to attack him and pulls out her own sword.

He is ready to forgive him for wanting to seduce Laodice, seeking Idaspe's death and planning an uprising if only he will divulge the name of the traitor.

Only when he declares that he also wants to forgive the traitor too does Siroe begin to speak but he is interrupted by Emira/Idaspe.

Laodice asks Idaspe to change Siroe's mind as a sign of love.

Laodice now admits that she wrongly accused Siroe of attempting to rape her because he did not return her love.

Locked prison cell in the fortress Emira asks Arasse to kill her, but he confesses to her that he has only faked the death of Siroe, who is still alive.

Medarse draws the sword, but is filled with remorse and hands the weapon to Emira/Idaspe to kill Siroe.

[Digital 1] Large square in Seleukia The royal guard has been defeated in a final battle against the rebels.

The historical basis for the drama is the deposition of the Persian king Khosrow II by his son Kavad II, recounted in the fourth volume of Epitome Historion by the Byzantine historian Johannes Zonaras as well as in the first book of Historia saracenica by the Christian Arab historian George Elmacin (Ibn al-’Amid) and the eleventh volume of the Annales ecclesiastici by Cesare Baronio.

[1] Contemporary sources available to Metastasio may also have included Cosroès by Jean Rotrou (1649) and the libretto Ormisda by Apostolo Zeno (1721).

The latter follows a similar plot, although its action takes place a generation earlier in the Sassanid dynasty.

[1] The first setting of Metastasio's libretto was by Leonardo Vinci, which premiered on 2 February 1726 at Teatro San Giovanni Crisostomo in Venice.

The principal roles were sung by Marianna Bulgarelli (known as “La Romanina“) as Emira and Nicolò Grimaldi (“Nicolini“) as Siroe.

In Davide Perez's 1740 setting, the singers were Caffarelli as Siroe and Giovanni Manzuoli as Medarse.