About the work
Ciro riconosciuto is a three-act opera seria by Baldassare Galuppi on a libretto by Pietro Metastasio. Its premiere is usually dated to 19 December 1745 at the Regio Ducal Teatro in Milan; the Corago database at the University of Bologna also records a possible earlier performance in Venice on 5 January 1737.
Plot
The Median king Astiage has his newborn grandson Ciro (Cyrus) put to death after a dream foretells that the child will bring about his own downfall. A shepherd secretly saves the infant and raises him. As a young man Ciro ends up at his grandfather's court without anyone suspecting his true origin, until entanglements involving his adoptive family and his beloved Arpalice reveal the truth, and Astiage is reconciled with the recognised heir.
Cultural significance
The story, drawn from Herodotus's account of the young Persian king Cyrus, was popular enough that Galuppi set it twice: in Milan in 1745 and, in a second version, in Rome in 1759.