About the work
Artaserse is an opera seria in three acts by Baldassare Galuppi to Pietro Metastasio's libretto of the same name. It premiered on 29 January 1749 at the new imperial theatre on the Michaelerplatz (the Burgtheater) in Vienna.
Plot
The guard commander Artabano murders the Persian king Serse and casts suspicion on his son Dario, who is consequently executed; Serse's younger son Artaserse ascends the throne. Artabano's own son Arbace, the true culprit, comes under suspicion and is condemned to death, until several dramatic turns reveal his innocence and expose Artabano's betrayal. Artaserse ultimately pardons both Arbace and the repentant Artabano.
Cultural significance
First performed in 1730, Metastasio's libretto became the most frequently set text in the history of opera seria, with over ninety settings including those by Vinci, Hasse, Gluck and Graun. Galuppi's 1749 Vienna version came from the same house he later revisited with a revised setting that opened the Teatro Nuovo in Padua in 1751.