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Ciro Riconosciuto
''Ciro riconosciuto'' is an opera libretto in three acts by Pietro Metastasio, dating to around 1736. Sources It deals with the youth of Cyrus the Great and draws on the first book of Herodotus's ''Histories'' and Marcus Iunianus Iustinus's extract from the first book of Pompeius Trogus's ''Historiae Philippicae'', along with elements from the sixth and seventh book of Ctesias's '' Persica'' and the first book of Valerius Maximus's ''Historiae''. The work's forerunners include Amasis'' by François Joseph de Lagrange-Chancel, in which the inability of parents to recognize their own son also plays an important role. According to Herodotus, the Median king Astyages had two dreams indicating that he would fall due to a son of his daughter Mandane. He thus ordered his confidant Harpagus (Arpago in the libretto) to kill Cyrus as soon as he was born. Harpagus disobeyed the order but had the shepherd Mithradates (Mithradate in the libretto) leave the infant out on the mountains ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pietro Metastasio
Pietro Antonio Domenico Trapassi (3 January 1698 – 12 April 1782), better known by his pseudonym of Pietro Metastasio (), was an Italian poet and librettist, considered the most important writer of '' opera seria'' libretti. Early life Metastasio was born in Rome, where his father, Felice Trapassi, a native of Assisi, had taken service in the Corsican regiment of the papal forces. Felice married a Bolognese woman, Francesca Galasti, and became a grocer in the ''Via dei Cappellari''. The couple had two sons and two daughters; Pietro was the younger son. Pietro, while still a child, is said to have attracted crowds by reciting impromptu verses on a given subject. On one such occasion in 1709, two men of distinction stopped to listen: Giovanni Vincenzo Gravina, famous for legal and literary erudition as well as his directorship of the Arcadian Academy, and Lorenzini, a critic of some note. Gravina was attracted by the boy's poetic talent and personal charm, and made Pietro hi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |