Antigono (Mysliveček)

For a performance in the 1780s, it would only be expected that a libretto by Metastasio would be abbreviated and altered to suit contemporary operatic taste.

Antigono was the composer's last opera, first performed at the Teatro delle Dame in Rome on 5 April 1780 at a time when he was deathly ill with syphilis—he had only a few months more to live.

The most successful of these was the rondò "Ho perduto il mio tesoro," which was disseminated in music prints and manuscripts well into the 19th century.

All of the performers in the production were male, since women were prohibited from appearing on stage in Roman theaters until Pius VII was elevated to the Holy See in the year 1800.

The most distinguished cast members were the tenor Giovanni Ansani, a close professional associate of the composer, and the castrato Pietro Benedetti, the original interpreter of the rondò "Ho perduto il mio tesoro."