About the work
Ezio is a three-act opera seria by Baldassare Galuppi on a libretto by Pietro Metastasio. It premiered on 22 January 1757 at the Regio Ducal Teatro in Milan.
Plot
The victorious Roman general Ezio loves Fulvia, daughter of the courtier Massimo, who secretly seeks revenge on the emperor Valentiniano. Massimo instigates a conspiracy against the emperor and pins the blame on Ezio, who is arrested and sentenced to death, while the emperor's sister Onoria courts Ezio in vain. Only when Massimo's own attack on the emperor fails and Ezio even saves his life does the truth emerge, and Valentiniano pardons both Ezio and the repentant Massimo.
Cultural significance
Metastasio's libretto about the Roman general historically regarded as the Western Empire's last great commander had already become known 25 years before Galuppi's Milan version, through Handel's London setting of 1732.