It is Mozart's first true opera (when one considers that Die Schuldigkeit des ersten Gebots is simply a sacred drama).

As is suggested by the name, the opera is based upon the Greek myth of Hyacinth and Apollo as told by Roman poet Ovid in his Metamorphoses.

After notable success in other areas of Europe, Mozart was commissioned to compose a piece for the Benedictine University in his hometown of Salzburg where it was first performed on 13 May 1767.

[1] Mozart's first encounter with the university was at the age of five on September 1 and 3, 1761, when he appeared as an extra in Jakob Anton Wimmer and Johann Ernst Eberlin's Latin Drama Sigismundes Hungariae Rex.

Many historians consider it to be operatic because it is a secular drama composed of five arias, two duets, a chorus and a trio, connected with recitative.

In the original story, Apollo accidentally kills his lover, a boy named Hyacinth, with one of his stray discus throws.

However, Zephyr soon enters with the terrible news that, while sporting in the woods, Apollo threw a discus and fatally struck Hyacinth in the head.

Zephyr, in an aside to the audience, confesses his guilt but eagerly obeys Oebalus's order and then proceeds to make advances on Melia in Apollo's absence.

The moving C major duet between Oebalus and Melia is an extraordinary composition featuring a through-composed style with enticing orchestral effects – such as muted violins, under which the rest of the strings play pizzicato.