Opera seria is the Italian term for serious opera. It specifically applies to the operas on serious subjects that dominated during the 1600’s and 1700’s. Opere serie (the plural of opera seria) developed into highly formal, complicated works with opportunities for dramatic, elaborate arias that showed off a soloist’s voice.
Most opere serie dealt with subjects drawn from classical mythology or ancient history. The librettist (writer of the text) for a large number of these works was the Italian poet Pietro Metastasio. Many composers, including Giovanni Pergolesi of Italy and Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart of Austria, set his words to music. The greatest examples of opera seria were among the last to be composed. They were two operas by Mozart: Idomeneo (1781), with a libretto (text) by G. B. Varesco, and La clemenza di Tito (1791), with a text based on Metastasio’s earlier libretto for the Vienna-based Venetian-born composer Antonio Caldara in 1734.
