Cleofide

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)	contralto	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

Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cleofide"