About the work
Baroque opera in three acts by Reinhard Keiser to a libretto by Lucas von Bostel, who had already translated an Italian libretto by Nicolò Minato – set for Emperor Leopold I in 1678 – into German for Johann Philipp Förtsch's opera of the same name in Hamburg (1684), and now reworked it for Keiser. It premiered in 1711 at the Oper am Gänsemarkt in Hamburg; in 1730 Keiser produced a thoroughly revised version there with around 37 new arias and richer orchestration, of which only this later version survives complete.
Plot
The proud King Croesus of Lydia dismisses the wise Solon's warning about the transience of earthly wealth. His mute son Atis secretly loves the Persian princess Elmira; when the Persian king Cyrus invades Lydia and takes Croesus captive, the shock restores Atis's speech, allowing him to save his father. Only when the condemned Croesus recalls Solon's warning is he pardoned, and the lovers are united.
Cultural significance
Croesus is among the most original scores of the Hamburg Gänsemarkt opera: instead of relying on numerous da capo arias, Keiser favours short, free forms and duets, and the work is one of the first operas to use the chalumeau, the forerunner of the clarinet, in its orchestra. After surviving for centuries only in its 1730 revision, it received a widely noted stage rediscovery in Paris in 1990.