Poro, re dell’Indie (“Porus, King of the Indians”, HWV 28) is an opera seria in three acts by George Frideric Handel. The Italian-language libretto was adapted from Alessandro nell’Indie by Metastasio, and based on Alexander the Great’s encounter with Porus in 326 BC. The libretto had already been set to music by Leonardo Vinci in 1729 and was used as the text for more than sixty operas throughout the 18th century.
Graham Cummings has examined in detail the composition history of Poro in the context of Handel’s work on his London operas during the 1730s, and has postulated the principal time of Handel’s composing from September 1730 to 16 January 1731, with small revisions prior to the 2 February premiere.
The opera shifted the story’s emphasis from Alessandro to Poro and Cleofide, and their relationship.
Max Emanuel Cencic: Poro
Julia Lezhneva: Cleofide
Lucile Richardot: Erissena
Rémy Brès-Feuillet: Gandarte
Hugo Hymas: Alessandro
Timothy Edlin: Timagene
Orchestra: {oh!} Orkiestra
Conductor: Martyna Pastuszka
