About the work
Egeria is a one-act componimento drammatico by Johann Adolph Hasse, based on Pietro Metastasio's libretto. It premiered on 24 April 1764 at the Burgtheater in Vienna to celebrate Joseph II's coronation as King of the Romans.
Plot
At the spring of the nymph Egeria near Rome, the gods Venus, Mars, Mercury and Apollo argue over who has the honour of providing the Empress with a companion to help govern the Roman Empire. Venus, mother of the forebear Aeneas, argues for peace and describes the horrors of war; Mars, father of Rome's founder Romulus, considers martial virtues essential to Austria's survival. Egeria decides that neither war nor peace alone should rule — only Joseph combines both virtues.
Cultural significance
In a letter of 26 April 1764, Metastasio himself called Hasse's music the most harmonious and at the same time the most masterful and popular he had ever heard, later calling the performance his greatest Viennese success.