About the work
Dramma per musica in three acts by Antonio Caldara to a libretto by Pietro Metastasio, first performed on 4 November 1731 at the Vienna Hoftheater for the nameday of Emperor Charles VI. Caldara's version was the first setting of the text; the ballet music was composed by Nicola Matteis the Younger.
Plot
As a child, the rightful heir Demetrio was hidden from the usurper Alessandro and raised under the false name Alceste at the court of Queen Cleonice, unaware of his true origins. After Alessandro's death, the loyal courtier Fenicio recognises Alceste as the true king. Demetrio ascends the throne of the Seleucid kingdom and marries Cleonice, with whom he had already fallen in love.
Cultural significance
With more than fifty known settings — sometimes performed under the alternative titles 'Alceste' or 'Cleonice' — the text ranks among Metastasio's most popular librettos. Caldara's premiere was cast with six soloists, and the score survives in manuscripts held by the Austrian National Library in Vienna and the Bibliothèque nationale de France.