Johann Adolf Hasse Cleofide

Hasse's Cleofide of 1731 can be regarded as the zenith of his creative output – not least of all because he integrated several of his greatest arias from earlier works into this opera. The theme from antiquity "Alexander's conquests in India" was perfectly suited to flatter August the Strong, a rather unsuccessful commander-in-chief, who at that moment was occupied with the reorganization of his armies. For performance at the Court of Dresden, Metastasio's original libretto was reworked by Michelangelo Boccardi. As a result, the title of the opera was changed from "Alessandro nell' Indie" to "Cleofide" and Faustina Bordoni, the prima donna and wife of Johann Adolf Hasse, became the protagonist of the story. Musically, the opera reflected the style of the time. Hasse's expressive and natural style was admired and appreciated by the public professional musicians alike. The vocal parts were "tailor-made" for the singers and in performing this work the outstanding soloists and the orchestra could shine. Hasse always tried to get the utmost from his musicians and in the case of "Cleofide" he achieved a 100% success. The Carus edition of "Cleofide," which has been published as a part of the Hasse-Werkausgabe, is the very first printed edition of this work. It is based primarily on the original parts used for the first performance in 1731 and presents both an accurate musicological rendering of the sources as well as a practical performance edition.