About the work
Fedra is a melodramma serio in two acts by Johann Simon Mayr to a libretto by Luigi Romanelli, based on Racine's tragedy Phèdre. The opera premiered on 26 December 1820 at the Teatro alla Scala in Milan for the 1821 carnival season, with Teresa Belloc-Giorgi in the title role; the printed libretto accordingly carries the publication year 1821.
Plot
Fedra, wife of Theseus, is consumed by an unrequited love for her stepson Ippolito. When her passion comes to light, disaster follows its course and ends tragically for those involved.
Cultural significance
Fedra is among Mayr's last works for the stage, composed at a time when the young Rossini, and later Mayr's own pupil Donizetti, were increasingly coming to dominate Italian opera.