About the work
Adriano in Siria is an opera seria by Antonio Caldara on a libretto by Pietro Metastasio, who shaped the story from the ancient accounts of Cassius Dio and Aelius Spartianus. Commissioned for Emperor Charles VI, it premiered in November 1732 at the Vienna Hoftheater, with stage designs by Antonio Galli da Bibiena and ballet interludes by Nicola Matteis the Younger.
Plot
The Roman emperor Hadrian falls in love with the Parthian princess Emirena even though he is betrothed to the noblewoman Sabina. Amid jealousy, an assassination plot and political intrigue he must choose between passion and duty; in the end he pardons his rival Osroa, Emirena marries Farnaspe, and Adriano returns to Sabina.
Cultural significance
Metastasio's text became one of the most frequently set librettos of the 18th century: within a few decades of Caldara's premiere, more than 60 further settings followed, including those by Pergolesi (1734), Hasse (1752) and Cherubini (1782).