Is Rigoletto an Opera seria?
Opera seria Opera seria (] ; plural: "opere serie"; usually called "dramma per musica" or "melodramma serio") is an Italian musical term which refers to the noble and "serious" style of Italian opera that predominated in Europe from the 1710s to c. 1770. The term itself was rarely used at the time and only attained common usage once "opera seria" was becoming unfashionable and beginning to be viewed as a historical genre. The popular rival to "opera seria" was "opera buffa," the 'comic' opera that took its cue from the improvisatory commedia dell'arte.
Alessandro (opera) Alessandro (HWV 21), is an opera composed by George Frideric Handel in 1726 for the Royal Academy of Music. Paolo Rolli's libretto is based on the story of Ortensio Mauro's "La superbia d'Alessandro". This was the first time the famous singers Faustina Bordoni and Francesca Cuzzoni appeared together in one of Handel's operas. The original cast also included Francesco Bernardi who was known as Senesino.