About the work
After Senesino and nearly all of Handel's singers defected to the rival Opera of the Nobility in May 1733, Handel assembled „Arbace“ in January 1734 as his second pasticcio of the season. It drew mainly on Leonardo Vinci's successful setting of Pietro Metastasio's libretto „Artaserse“, with added arias by Johann Adolf Hasse and Giovanni Porta. It premiered in early January 1734 at the King's Theatre, Haymarket, London.
Plot
The Persian general Artabano has murdered King Serse and plots to topple his son Artaserse from the throne. Artabano's friend Arbace, once banished by Serse, refuses to join the conspiracy and falls under suspicion himself, narrowly escaping a planned poisoning. In the end Artabano's guilt is exposed, and Arbace is rewarded with Mandane's hand.
Cultural significance
With nine performances, „Arbace“ was a respectable success for a pasticcio, though it could not match the rival Nobility Opera's version starring Farinelli. The work illustrates how Handel tried to counter his rivals' fashionable, melody-driven Neapolitan style during the London opera wars of the 1730s.