About the work
Demofoonte is an opera seria by Giovanni Paisiello to Pietro Metastasio's libretto (1733), one of the most frequently set opera texts of the 18th century. Paisiello's version premiered during the 1774/75 Carnival season at the Teatro San Benedetto in Venice.
Plot
An oracle demands that King Demofoonte sacrifice a virgin every year. His son Timante has secretly married Dircea, who is due to be sacrificed, an offence punishable by death. After dramatic complications, it emerges that Dircea is in fact Demofoonte's own daughter and Timante the son of another prince — the forbidden marriage is thus permitted, and the oracle is fulfilled without anyone having to die.
Cultural significance
Metastasio's text was set by more than 70 composers, including Gluck, Jommelli, Galuppi and Cherubini; Paisiello's Venetian version belongs to this long tradition and dates from the period when he was establishing himself as a sought-after opera seria composer, shortly before he moved to Catherine II's court in St Petersburg in 1776.