About the work
Artaserse is an opera seria by Niccolò Jommelli after the libretto by Pietro Metastasio, in Jommelli's second setting of the subject. It premiered on 30 August 1756 at the Herzogliches Theater in Stuttgart, with a further performance documented in Rome in 1757. Metastasio's most popular libretto, with over ninety settings, had first been set by Leonardo Vinci in Rome in 1730.
Plot
The Persian king Serse is murdered by his guard commander Artabano, who casts suspicion on Serse's elder son Dario; Dario is executed on the orders of his younger brother, the new king Artaserse. When it emerges that Dario was innocent, Artabano's own son Arbace – Artaserse's closest friend and the lover of his sister Mandane – falls under suspicion because of a bloodied sword. Artaserse must choose between loyalty to his friend and the demand for a just verdict, while the true culprit continues scheming in the background.
Cultural significance
That Jommelli set the subject a second time around 1756 underscores how central Artaserse, Metastasio's most frequently set libretto, was to the period's repertoire. The Stuttgart version was restaged in Rome the following year.