About the work
Melodramma eroico pastorale in three acts by Antonio Vivaldi to a libretto by Antonio Maria Lucchini, first performed on 9 November 1726 at the Teatro Sant'Angelo in Venice. For a 1734 revival, Bartolomeo Vitturi reworked the text and Vivaldi added arias by other composers, turning it into a pasticcio.
Plot
Dorilla, daughter of King Admetus of Thessaly, loves the shepherd Elmiro. When a dragon threatens the land and an oracle demands her sacrifice, the god Apollo, disguised as a shepherd, slays the beast and saves her. Apollo then reveals his true identity and renounces his claim to her, allowing Dorilla to marry Elmiro.
Cultural significance
At the premiere, mezzo-soprano Anna Girò sang in a Vivaldi opera for the first time, beginning a lifelong artistic association with the composer. The original 1726 score is lost; only the expanded 1734 pasticcio version survives, which also includes music by Johann Adolph Hasse, Geminiano Giacomelli and Leonardo Leo.