About the work
Rosmira (RV 731) is a pasticcio in three acts that Antonio Vivaldi presented on 27 January 1738 at the Teatro Sant'Angelo in Venice. The libretto by Silvio Stampiglia had already been set by George Frideric Handel eight years earlier for his opera 'Partenope'.
Plot
The Cypriot princess Rosmira disguises herself as the Armenian prince Eurimene to win back her unfaithful fiancé Arsace. At the court of Partenope, queen of Naples, Rosmira, Arsace and Prince Armindo become entangled in a game of mistaken identity involving love, wounded pride and regained trust.
Cultural significance
Vivaldi composed the recitatives himself and incorporated arias by, among others, Handel, Hasse, Pergolesi and Vinci – a common practice in Venetian opera of the time. Rosmira is Vivaldi's last documented operatic work for Venice; the music is lost, and only the libretto survives.