La Dori
Music by Antonio Cesti · libretto by Giovanni Filippo Apolloni · premiered 1657 · at Innsbruck
La Dori, overo Lo schiavo reggio (Doris, or The Royal Slave) is a tragi-comic opera in a prologue and three acts composed by Antonio Cesti to a libretto by Giovanni Filippo Apolloni. It was first performed in the court theatre at Innsbruck in 1657. The story is set in Babylon on the shores of the Euphrates and is a convoluted tale of mistaken identities—a female protagonist who disguised as a man eventually regains her lost lover, and a man disguised as a woman who causes another man to fall in love with him. In several respects it resembles the plot of Cesti and Apolloni's earlier opera L'Argia and foreshadows Apostolo Zeno's libretto for Gli inganni felici (1695) and Metastasio's libretto for L'Olimpiade (1733).
The first Italian staging of La Dori was in Florence in 1661 for the wedding of Cosimo III de' Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany. It subsequently became one of the most popular operas in 17th-century Italy. The opera was revived three times in the 20th century, beginning in 1983.
Text from the Wikipedia article "La Dori", licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
About the Composer
Antonio Cesti (Italian pronunciation: [anˈtɔːnjo ˈtʃesti]; baptised Pietro Cesti, 5 August 1623; died 14 October 1669), known today primarily as an Italian composer of the Baroque era, was also a singer (tenor) and organist. He was "the most celebrated Italian musician of his generation".
Text from the Wikipedia article "Antonio Cesti", licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Other Operas by Antonio Cesti
- Il pomo d'oro (1611)
- L'Argia (1655)