About the work
Demofoonte is an opera seria in three acts by Johann Adolph Hasse, based on Pietro Metastasio's libretto. This first of two Hasse settings of the subject premiered on 9 February 1748 at the opera house by the Zwinger in Dresden.
Plot
According to an oracle, King Demofoonte of Thrace must sacrifice a maiden chosen by lot to Apollo every year, but exempts his own, unrecognised daughter from the drawing. When the nobleman Matusio demands the same exemption for his supposed daughter Dircea, the furious king condemns her to death without a lottery — all the more so because Dircea is secretly married to the crown prince Timante and has a son with him, violating a law against commoners marrying the heir. Only the revelation that Timante is really Matusio's biological son and Dircea the king's true daughter resolves both conflicts and allows a happy ending.
Cultural significance
Ten years later, in 1758, Hasse returned once more to the same Metastasio subject for the Naples stage.