About the work
Il pastor fido is a dramma tragicomico per musica by Antonio Salieri to a libretto by Lorenzo Da Ponte, based on Giovanni Battista Guarini's pastoral play of the same name. It premiered on 11 February 1789 at the Burgtheater in Vienna.
Plot
In an Arcadian pastoral setting, the shepherd Mirtillo struggles for the love of the already-promised Amarilli; disguises, oracles and jealousy delay the happy ending, which is reached only after several entanglements.
Cultural significance
After only three performances Salieri withdrew the original four-act version for dramaturgical weaknesses and brought out a revised three-act version on 14 October 1789, reusing the overture unchanged from his earlier opera 'Prima la musica e poi le parole'. The demanding role of Amarilli was written for the soprano Adriana Ferrarese del Bene.