About the work
Semi-opera by Henry Purcell for John Dryden and Robert Howard's tragedy "The Indian Queen" (1664), first performed in 1695 at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane, London. Purcell, who died that November, composed only the prologue and the music for Acts II and III; his brother Daniel Purcell completed the closing masque of Act V.
Plot
In pre-Columbian Central America, the Inca princess Orazia and the captive Aztec prince Montezuma fall in love while the usurping queen Zempoalla seeks to win Montezuma for herself. Only when his true Aztec descent is revealed does the conflict resolve, and Zempoalla takes her own life.
Cultural significance
As the last of Purcell's stage works, the score he left unfinished marks the close of his brief but influential run of semi-operas for the London theatre of the 1690s. The soprano air "I attempt from love's sickness" remains among his most performed pieces.