Achille in Sciro is an opera and libretto by Pietro Metastasio telling the story of Achilles on Skyros. It was first set to music by Antonio Caldara in 1736, and premiered at the wedding of Maria Theresa and Francis of Lorraine in Vienna.[1] In 1772, Johann Anton Koch translated the libretto to German under the name "Achilles in Scyro".

Theme

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The libretto is centres around the Greek mythological hero Achilles. For his libretto, Metastasio drew from various works as inspiration for its themes. The plot has also similarities with the 1664 libretto L'Achille in Sciro by Ippolito Bentivoglio, which was set to music in 1663 by Giovanni Legrenzi. The work is subtitled "dramma immaginato".

Selected settings

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References

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  1. ^ Italian Opera in Central Europe 1614 Melania Bucciarelli, Norbert Dubowy, Reinhard Strohm - 2006 -3830503814 1780 - Page 252 "Plot and occasion Metastasio's Achille in Sciro was first performed in Vienna on 13 February 1736 for the wedding of Princess Maria ...Shortly after, in 1737, the composer Sarri used the same libretto for the inauguration of the Teatro S. Carlo in Naples.1 ... Venice (1739, Chiarini), Turin (1740, Leo) and Madrid (1744, Corselli) before Hasse composed the music for another ... “Tre intonazioni dell'Achille in Sciro a confronto: Caldara, Leo, Hasse”, Il Saggiatore Musicale, 3 (1996), p.