The composer Leonardo Vinci was the eccentric star of Neapolitan and Roman opera in the 1720s. His works had been almost entirely forgotten until a concert performance of his final opera, Artaserse, rekindled enthusiasm for his music several years ago. Vinci’s penultimate opera, Alessandro nell’Indie, had likewise been neglected for nearly 300 years until the singer and director Max Emanuel Cencic staged it in 2022 at the Bayreuth Baroque Opera Festival. And that although the work, which was first performed in Rome in 1730 and deals with Alexander the Great’s (Alessandro) Indian campaign, is the first setting of one of Pietro Metastasio’s successful libretti. In the opera, Alexander is in love with the Indian queen Cleofide. She, however, has already promised her heart to Poro, the king Alexander has defeated. This is the starting point for a drama full of emotion, love, intrigue, jealousy and sacrifice. Vinci wrote Alessandro nell’Indie for male singers only; this is because in the 18th century women were forbidden to perform in public in the Papal States. In his staging, Max Emanuel Cencic playfully appropriates the opulent techniques of Baroque theatre and presents the convoluted plot in the style of a Bollywood revue. The production brings together a spectacular ensemble with five of the best countertenors of the younger generation: Bruno de Sá, Dennis Orellana, Maayan Licht, Jake Arditti and Nicholas Tamagna will appear, along with tenor Stefan Sbonnik.

In Italian with German and English surtitles
Introduction to the work 30 minutes before curtain-up

Co-production with the Bayreuth Baroque Opera Festival