About the work
Catone in Utica is an opera seria by Johann Adolph Hasse on Pietro Metastasio’s first independent libretto, written for Rome. Hasse’s setting premiered on 26 December 1731 at the Teatro Regio in Turin, with Carlo Broschi — better known as Farinelli — among the cast; the score survives only in fragments.
Plot
In North Africa, Cato of Utica defends the last remnants of the Roman Republic against Julius Caesar. His daughter Marzia secretly loves Caesar, tearing him between duty and family; when peace talks fail over Cato’s refusal to compromise, battle becomes inevitable, and Cato ultimately takes his own life.
Cultural significance
The libretto’s 1728 Rome premiere (in Leonardo Vinci’s setting) had already caused controversy, since the onstage suicide of a republican hero opposing one-man rule sat uneasily with papal Rome; Metastasio subsequently softened the third act. Even so, with around 30 settings, the text became one of the century’s most successful opera subjects.