Olimpie

Olimpie (also spelled Olympie) is an opera in three acts by Gaspare Spontini. The French libretto, by Armand-Michel Dieulafoy (1762-1823) and Charles Brifaut (1781-1857), is based on the play of the same name by Voltaire (1761). Olimpie was first performed on 22 December 1819 by the Paris Opéra at the Salle Montansier. When sung in Italian or German, it is usually given the title Olimpia.

The story takes place in the aftermath of the death Alexander the Great, who left a vast empire, stretching from Macedonia through Persia to the Indian Ocean. His surviving generals fought for control of the empire and divided it up. Two of the historical characters in Voltaire's play and Spontini's opera, Cassander and Antigonus, were among the rivals competing for parts of the empire. Antigonus was one of Alexander's generals, while Cassander was the son of another of Alexander's generals, Antipater. Alexander's widow, Statira was supposedly killed by Alexander's first wife Roxana shortly after his death, but in Voltaire's play and Spontini's opera, she survives incognito, as a priestess of Diana in Ephesus. The title character Olimpie, daughter of Statira and Alexander, is likely entirely fictional.

It wasn't long after the death of Alexander that people began to glorify and mythologize his life. By the 3rd century it was believed by many that he was a mortal who had been selected by the gods to perform his heroic deeds. Although it is now thought that Alexander died from a fever, for many centuries it was believed he was murdered. The 'Alexander Romance', which first appeared at that time, obscured the true explanation of his death: "the speaking trees of the Amazons were said to have told him of his early death during his last battle. Alexander would die after drinking a poisonous mixture served to him by his valet Iolus upon his return." It is not surprising, that Voltaire and Spontini's librettists Dieulafoy and Brifaut also assume that Alexander was murdered. Cassander's father Antipater was often designated as the leader of a poisoning plot, and Cassander himself was well known for his hostility to the memory of Alexander.

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