About the work
Demofoonte is an opera seria in three acts by Josef Mysliveček, based on Pietro Metastasio's libretto first performed in 1733 — the first of two settings he made of this text. The premiere took place on 17 January 1769 at the Teatro San Benedetto in Venice and was a triumphant success.
Plot
The Thracian king Demofoonte wishes to end an annual sacrifice of a virgin. At the centre of the plot is Timante, the king's presumed son, secretly married to Dircea, who is chosen for the sacrifice. Only revealing letters disclose that Timante is in truth Dircea's brother and also the son of the nobleman Matusio — making the marriage lawful and allowing the sacrifices to end.
Cultural significance
The celebrated castrato Gaetano Guadagni, a favourite of Venetian audiences, sang Timante in one of the last roles of his long career. The overture made a particular impression: the young Mozart admired it so much that in 1770 he asked his sister for a copy, later drawing on its musical ideas in, among other works, his Piano Concerto No. 9 (1777).