About the work
La Rosmira fedele is an opera seria in three acts by Leonardo Vinci to an older libretto by Silvio Stampiglia, originally written as Partenope for Naples in 1699. It premiered on 31 January 1725 at the Teatro San Giovanni Grisostomo in Venice, with Faustina Bordoni and Antonia Merighi in the leading roles.
Plot
Queen Partenope of Naples is courted by several princes but favours Arsace of Corinth, unaware that he abandoned his former fiancée Rosmira to win her. Disguised as a man, Rosmira returns to court to test Arsace's fidelity and seek revenge. After various complications and a duel, her true identity is revealed; Arsace returns to Rosmira, while Partenope chooses her silent admirer Armindo.
Cultural significance
For his setting, Vinci reused much of the recitative from Domenico Sarro's 1707 version and composed largely new arias, a common practice at the time between pasticcio and original composition. George Frideric Handel set the same libretto in London in 1730 under its original title, Partenope.