About the work
Cajo Fabrizio is a dramma per musica in three acts by Johann Adolph Hasse, based on Apostolo Zeno's libretto, written in Vienna in 1729. It premiered on 12 January 1732 at the Teatro Capranica in Rome, with the castrato Caffarelli (Gaetano Majorano) in the role of Pirro.
Plot
The action is set in Taranto in 279 BC during the conflict between Rome and King Pyrrhus of Epirus. At its centre are the Roman senator Cajo Fabrizio, his daughter Sestia and several noble figures whose political and personal loyalties are tested by the war.
Cultural significance
The opera quickly travelled beyond Rome to other stages, including Naples in 1733, Dresden in 1734 and Venice in 1735, and later twice to Berlin (1766 and 1785); it saw a modern rediscovery in London in 2012.