About the work
Tassilone is a five-act tragedia per musica by Agostino Steffani, with an Italian libretto by Stefano Benedetto Pallavicini. It premiered on 17 January 1709 at the Düsseldorf court of the Palatine elector Johann Wilhelm, to whom the work is also dedicated.
Plot
The plot centres on the Bavarian duke Tassilo III, who defies Charlemagne and becomes entangled with Charlemagne's daughters Rotrud and Teodata while remaining loyal to his wife Gismonda. In stylised form, the story reflects a power struggle between the Bavarian ducal house and the Frankish empire.
Cultural significance
Contemporaries also read the opera as a political allusion to the demotion of the Bavarian elector Max II Emanuel during the War of the Spanish Succession and the transfer of the electorate to its dedicatee, Johann Wilhelm. Running some four hours with a large cast, it ranks among Steffani's most mature works for the stage.