About the work
Musical drama by Reinhard Keiser to a libretto by Friedrich Maximilian von Lersner, first performed in November 1722 at the court theatre in Copenhagen as part of a courtly celebration for the Danish king Frederick IV and his queen.
Plot
After ten years of wandering, Ulysses returns to Ithaca, where his wife Penelope has remained faithful despite his long absence. The sorceress Circe, aided by a rejected suitor, tries to use magic to drive the couple apart but is defeated by the messenger god Mercury. In the end, Ulysses and Penelope are reunited.
Cultural significance
With an overture unusually scored for four trumpets, the opera underlines the courtly, festive character of the occasion for which it was written. The marital fidelity with which the work ends echoed the celebration of the Danish royal couple's union that it was composed to mark.