About the work
L'infedeltà delusa is a burletta per musica in two acts; the libretto was written by Marco Coltellini and adapted for Haydn by Karl Frieberth. The opera was premiered on 26 July 1773 at the opera house of Eszterháza for the name day of the widowed Princess Esterházy.
Plot
Vespina tries to save her brother Nanni's chance to marry his beloved Sandrina, who is instead promised to the wealthy farmer Nencio. Through four disguises – as an old woman, a German maid, a marquis and a notary – she engineers events so that both couples end up together.
Cultural significance
The opera fell largely into obscurity after 1774 and was rediscovered only through the critical edition of 1962; the character of Vespina is regarded as a possible forerunner of Despina in Mozart's Così fan tutte.