About the work
"Alessandro Severo" is a Handel pasticcio: to a new libretto based on Apostolo Zeno's text written for Antonio Lotti in 1716-17, Handel composed only the overture and recitatives afresh, drawing every aria from his own earlier operas "Giustino," "Berenice," and "Arminio." It premiered at the King's Theatre on 25 February 1738, with the castrato Caffarelli in the title role.
Plot
Emperor Alessandro Severo has raised his young wife Sallustia to the rank of Augusta, granting her honours previously reserved for his mother, Giulia Mammea. Jealous, Giulia schemes to be rid of her rival, while Sallustia's father, the general Marziano, rises up over the perceived insult to his family.
Cultural significance
As a pasticcio built entirely from his own music, the work shows Handel drawing on proven material to open a difficult season with less compositional effort; it nonetheless failed at the box office and was then forgotten for decades, until its rediscovery at the Royal College of Music in London in 1997.