About the work
Catone in Utica is an opera seria in two acts by Peter von Winter, setting Pietro Metastasio's widely used libretto on the death of Cato the Younger. It premiered in 1791 at the Teatro San Benedetto in Venice, at a time when Winter was already vice-Kapellmeister at the Munich court.
Plot
In Utica, the last refuge of Caesar's opponents, Cato struggles with his daughter Marzia, who is secretly drawn to Caesar, and with Caesar's own offers of reconciliation. The Numidian prince Arbace loves Marzia, while the widowed Emilia demands that Caesar avenge the death of her husband Pompey. Caesar's victory ultimately leaves Cato no way out but to take his own life.
Cultural significance
Metastasio's libretto was one of the most frequently set texts of the 18th century, used by composers including Vivaldi, Vinci and Hasse; Winter's setting dates from his productive Venetian period of the early 1790s.