Poro (opera)
Poro, re dell'Indie (Porus, King of the Indians; HWV 28) is an opera seria in three acts written for the Royal Academy of Music (1719) by George Frideric Handel. The Italian-language libretto was adapted from Alessandro nell'Indie by Metastasio, and based on Alexander the Great's encounter with King Porus in 326 BC.
Graham Cummings has examined in detail the composition history of Poro in the context of Handel's work on his London operas during the 1730s, and has postulated the principal time of Handel's composing from September 1730 to 16 January 1731, with small revisions prior to the 2 February premiere.[1]
The opera shifted the story's emphasis from Alessandro to Poro and Cleofide, and their relationship.
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Performance history
The opera was first given at the King's Theatre in London on 2 February 1731 and on 15 further occasions. It was revived on 23 December 1731, and again in a revised form on 8 December 1736. It was also given in Hamburg and Brunswick.
The first modern performance, also in Brunswick, was in 1928. The first UK performance since Handel's time was in 1966 at Abingdon.[2]
Roles
| Role | Voice type | Premiere Cast, 2 February 1731 (Conductor: George Frideric Handel) |
|---|---|---|
| Poro, Indian King | alto castrato | Senesino |
| Cleofide, Poro's lover | soprano | Anna Maria Strada |
| Erissena, Poro's sister | alto | Antonia Merighi |
| Gandarte, Erissena's lover | alto | Francesca Bertolli |
| Alessandro, King of Macedonia | tenor | Annibale Pio Fabri 'Balino' |
| Timagene, Alexander's general | bass | Giuseppe Commano |
Selected recordings
Opus 111 OP30-113/5: Gloria Banditelli, Rossana Bertini; Europa Galante; Fabio Biondi, conductor[3]
E-book
Score of Poro (ed. Friedrich Chrysander, Leipzig 1880)
References
- ^ Cummings, Graham, "Handel's Compositional Methods in His London Operas of the 1730s, and the Unusual Case of Poro, Rè dell'Indie (1731)" (August 1998). Music & Letters, 79 (3): pp. 346-367.
- ^ Dean, Winton, "Reports: Abingdon - Handel's Poro" (November 1966). The Musical Times, 107 (1485): p. 978.
- ^ Burrows, Donald, "Recording Reviews: Three Handel Operas" (August 1996). Early Music, 24 (3): pp. 522-524.
Sources
- Amadeus Almanac, accessed 6 November 2008
- Dean, Winton (2006), Handel's Operas, 1726-1741, Boydell Press, ISBN 1843832682 The second of the two volume definitive reference on the operas of Handel
- Poro by Anthony Hicks, in 'The New Grove Dictionary of Opera', ed. Stanley Sadie (London, 1992) ISBN 0-333-73432-7
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