Hasse was a favorite of Duchess Maria Antonia of Bavaria and composed multiple operas for her court in Dresden, beginning with La Spartana generosa performed in 1747 to celebrate her betrothal to Frederick Christian, Elector of Saxony.

The production designed by Giuseppe Galli Bibiena with costumes by Francesco Ponte was a lavish spectacle with real horses, camels and elephants on stage and hundreds of extras in addition to the seven main singers and the chorus of soldiers.

The final scene, a brilliantly lit Turkish camp at night, had ships sailing on the River Tigris with the hanging gardens of Babylon in the distance.

[1] The opera received its first performance in modern times on 16 August 1997 at the Innsbruck Festival of Early Music in a production conducted by René Jacobs and directed by Georg Quander.

In his review of the Berlin performance critic George Loomis wrote: "Hasse's arias emerged as not just musical pleasantries, but also vital studies in character.