About the work
Opera (dramma per musica) by Antonio Cesti to a libretto by Giacinto Andrea Cicognini, revised for Innsbruck by Giovanni Filippo Apolloni, first performed on 19 February 1656 at the Innsbruck court theatre. Cesti had already set the subject in an earlier version for Venice in 1649.
Plot
Queen Orontea of Egypt has sworn off love but falls for the young painter Alidoro, newly arrived at her court. Matters are further complicated by Giacinta, disguised as a man and sent to kill Alidoro. In the end Alidoro is revealed to be Floridano, the long-lost royal son of Phoenicia, clearing the way for his marriage to Orontea.
Cultural significance
Orontea ranks among the most successful operas of the seventeenth century: by 1700 it had been restaged more than seventeen times, including in Venice, Rome, Florence, Naples and Hanover. It became one of the most frequently performed Italian operas of its era and helped establish Cesti's reputation as a leading opera composer of his generation.