Moonlight on Endymion: in search of ‘Arcadian opera,’ 1688-1721

A paradigm of the earliest operatic endeavors of the Arcadian Academy, the myth of Endymion and Diana inspired librettos by Christina of Sweden and Alessandro Guidi, Francesco de Lemene, and Pietro Metastasio. All of these efforts emerged as reactions to the 'Baroque,' yet their dramaturgical and intellectual underpinnings appear to stand in such contrast to each other that the very notion of 'Arcadian opera' demands critical revision, at least with respect to its initial stage. The present article will do so by juxtaposing the aforementioned librettos with contemporary tracts by Gian Vincenzo Gravina and Giovanni Antonio Mezzabarba. It will conclude that Arcadia indeed adopted polymorphic traits at first, but that most conflicts dissolved within the towering oeuvre of Pietro Metastasio.