About the work
Opera seria in three acts by Niccolò Piccinni to Pietro Metastasio's libretto 'Alessandro nell'Indie', first performed on 21 January 1758 at the Teatro Argentina in Rome — the first major commission Piccinni won outside Naples on the strength of his Neapolitan successes.
Plot
After defeating the Indian king Poro in the battle of the Hydaspes, Alexander the Great shows magnanimity by returning his kingdom to him. The plot is overlaid with the love between Poro's wife Cleofide and Poro himself, and with the treachery of Timagene, which further complicates matters.
Cultural significance
With around ninety settings — the first by Leonardo Vinci in 1730 — 'Alessandro nell'Indie' was Metastasio's second most popular libretto after 'Artaserse'. Its success in Rome in 1758 marked Piccinni's establishment as a sought-after opera seria composer beyond Naples.