About the work
Baroque opera ("Sing-Spiel") in three acts by Reinhard Keiser to a libretto by Heinrich Hinsch, premiered on 1 July 1703 at the Oper am Gänsemarkt in Hamburg. The work follows an episode from Tacitus concerning Emperor Claudius and was among the first German-language operas to introduce Italian arias.
Plot
The plot centres on the affair between Empress Messalina and the Roman Silius, entangled with court intrigue over political ambition and supernatural elements. A subplot follows Calpurnia's unrequited love for Silius.
Cultural significance
George Frideric Handel later drew on motifs from Der verführte Claudius for his own works such as "Almira" (1705) – early evidence of Keiser's influence on the young composer. The work stayed in the Hamburg repertoire and was revived again in 1706, 1718 and 1726, though the music of the last revision is lost.