About the work
Baroque opera (dramma per musica) in three acts by Reinhard Keiser, his 68th opera, to a libretto by Johann Joachim Hoë based on an Italian text by Domenico Lalli. It premiered in July 1717 at the Oper am Gänsemarkt in Hamburg; a revised version with additional arias by Giovanni Bononcini followed in 1723.
Plot
The widowed Queen Tomyris of the Massagetae is courted by two kings but secretly loves her general Tigranes. The Persian princess Meroë arrives at court in disguise to avenge the death of her father, Cyrus. After numerous misunderstandings, it is revealed that Tigranes is in fact Tomyris's long-lost son, and the opera ends with reconciling weddings.
Cultural significance
The title role was sung at the premiere by the celebrated soprano Margaretha Susanna Kayser, one of the defining voices of the Gänsemarkt opera in those years. Most of the music is in da capo form; a critical edition of the score was published by Henle in 1975.