Alessandro is an opera

Opera

Opera is an art form in which singers and musicians perform a dramatic work combining text and musical score, usually in a theatrical setting. Opera incorporates many of the elements of spoken theatre, such as acting, scenery, and costumes and sometimes includes dance...

 written for the Royal Academy of Music (1719) composed by George Frideric Handel

George Frideric Handel

George Frideric Handel was a German-British Baroque composer, famous for his operas, oratorios, anthems and organ concertos. Handel was born in 1685, in a family indifferent to music...

 in 1726. Paolo Rolli was the librettist and based the story on Ortensio Mauro's La superbia d'Alessandro. This was the first opera where Handel had cast together in the same opera the famous singers Faustina Bordoni

Faustina Bordoni

Faustina Bordoni was an Italian mezzo-soprano.-Early career:She was born in Venice and brought up under the protection of the aristocratic brother composers Alessandro and Benedetto Marcello. Her singing teacher was another composer, Michelangelo Gasparini...

, as Rossane, and Francesca Cuzzoni

Francesca Cuzzoni

Francesca Cuzzoni was an Italian operatic soprano of the Baroque era.-Early career:Cuzzoni was born in Parma. Her father, Angelo, was a professional violinist, and her singing teacher was Francesco Lanzi. She made her debut in her home city in 1714, singing in La virtù coronata, o Il Fernando by...

, as Lisaura. Handel made use of their real-life professional rivalry in his treatment of the story. The original cast also included Francesco Bernardi.

Handel had originally planned Alessandro to be his first contribution to the 1725-1726 season of the Royal Academy. However, Bordoni did not arrive in London in time to stage Alessandro, and Handel substituted his own Scipione

Scipione

Scipione is an opera in three acts, with music composed by George Frideric Handel for the Royal Academy of Music in 1726. The librettist was Paolo Antonio Rolli. Handel composed Scipione whilst in the middle of writing Alessandro...

in March and April of 1726 until her arrival. The opera received its first performance on 5 May 1726 at the King's Theatre, London.

The story is based around Alexander the Great's journey to India

India

India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...

, where he meets Poro, the king of India, who was the subject of another Handel opera

Poro (opera)

Poro, re dell'Indie is an opera seria in three acts written for the Royal Academy of Music by George Frideric Handel...

 of that name.

Roles

Role	Voice type	Premiere Cast, 5 May 1726 (Conductor: George Frideric Handel )
Alessandro	alto Alto Alto is a musical term, derived from the Latin word altus, meaning "high" in Italian, that has several possible interpretations.When designating instruments, "alto" frequently refers to a member of an instrumental family that has the second highest range, below that of the treble or soprano. Hence,...  castrato Castrato A castrato is a man with a singing voice equivalent to that of a soprano, mezzo-soprano, or contralto voice produced either by castration of the singer before puberty or one who, because of an endocrinological condition, never reaches sexual maturity.Castration before puberty prevents a boy's...	Francesco Bernardi "Senesino Senesino Senesino was a celebrated Italian contralto castrato, particularly remembered today for his long collaboration with the composer George Frideric Handel.-Early life and career:... "
Rossane	soprano	Faustina Bordoni Faustina Bordoni Faustina Bordoni was an Italian mezzo-soprano.-Early career:She was born in Venice and brought up under the protection of the aristocratic brother composers Alessandro and Benedetto Marcello. Her singing teacher was another composer, Michelangelo Gasparini...
Lisaura	soprano	Francesca Cuzzoni Francesca Cuzzoni Francesca Cuzzoni was an Italian operatic soprano of the Baroque era.-Early career:Cuzzoni was born in Parma. Her father, Angelo, was a professional violinist, and her singing teacher was Francesco Lanzi. She made her debut in her home city in 1714, singing in La virtù coronata, o Il Fernando by...
Tassile		Antonio Baldi
Clito	bass	Giuseppe Maria Boschi
Leonato	tenor Tenor The tenor is a type of male singing voice and is the highest male voice within the modal register. The typical tenor voice lies between C3, the C one octave below middle C, to the A above middle C in choral music, and up to high C in solo work. The low extreme for tenors is roughly B2...	Luigi Antinori
Cleone	contralto Contralto Contralto is the deepest female classical singing voice, with the lowest tessitura, falling between tenor and mezzo-soprano. It typically ranges between the F below middle C to the second G above middle C , although at the extremes some voices can reach the E below middle C or the second B above...	Anna Vincenza Dotti

Synopsis

Alessandro comes to believe that he is the son of the god Jupiter. His delusion is such that he demands to be worshipped as a god. His Macedonian captains conspire to cure him of this belief, but their efforts are weak. During the course of the work, Rossane and Lisaura are rivals for the affection of Alessandro.

Recordings

Deutsche Harmonia Mundi IC 157 16 9537 3: René Jacobs, Sophie Boulin, Isabelle Poulenard, Jean Nirouet, Stephen Varcoe

Stephen Varcoe

Stephen Varcoe is an English classical bass-baritone singer, appearing internationally in opera and concert, known for Baroque and contemporary music and a notable singer of Lieder.- Professional career :...

, Guy de Mey

Guy de Mey

Guy de Mey is a Belgian tenor from Sint-Niklaas. He studied with Stella Dalberg, Erna Spoorenberg, Sir Peter Pears and Eric Tappy....

, Ria Bollen; La Petite Bande

La Petite Bande

La Petite Bande is a Belgium-based ensemble specialising in Baroque music played on period instruments. They are particularly known for their recordings of works by Corelli, Rameau, Handel, and Bach.-History:...

; Sigiswald Kuijken

Sigiswald Kuijken

Sigiswald Kuijken is a Belgian violinist, violist, and conductor known for playing on authentic instruments.-Biography:Kuijken was born in Dilbeek, near Brussels. He was a member of the Alarius Ensemble of Brussels between 1964 and 1972 and formed La Petite Bande in 1972...

, conductor

Studios Classique CD SC 100 303: Anita Terzia, Phoebe Atkinson, Betty Rieders, Lola Watson, Thomas Poole, Perry Price, Norman Andersson; Sinfonia Varsovia; Mieczysław Nowakowski, conductor

E-book

Score of Alessandro (ed. Friedrich Chrysander

Friedrich Chrysander

Karl Franz Friedrich Chrysander was a German music historian and critic, whose edition of the works of George Frideric Handel and authoritative writings on many other composers established him as a pioneer of 19th-century musicology.Born at Lübtheen, in Mecklenburg-Schwerin, Chrysander was the son...

, Leipzig 1877)