About the work
Dramma per musica in five acts by Antonio Caldara to a libretto by Apostolo Zeno, first performed on 4 November 1725 at the Vienna Hoftheater for the nameday of Emperor Charles VI. Zeno reworked one of his own older librettos from 1703 for health reasons; the stage designs were by the Bibiena brothers, and the ballet music was composed by Nicola Matteis the Younger.
Plot
In Kraków, King Venceslao's two sons — the ruthless Casimiro and the gentle Alessandro — both love Princess Erenice, who returns Alessandro's feelings. When the disguised Lithuanian queen Lucinda reminds Casimiro of an earlier promise of marriage, a duel follows in which Casimiro mistakenly kills his own brother Alessandro. In the end, the king forgives his son, obliges him to marry Lucinda, and hands him the throne.
Cultural significance
The premiere cast was drawn largely from the imperial court's own musical establishment, led by the star soprano of the day, Faustina Bordoni. After centuries of silence, Caldara's opera returned to the stage in a concert performance on 12 November 2023 at the Tage Alter Musik early-music festival in Herne.