Il Ruggiero

It was first staged on 16 October 1771 for the wedding of Archduke Ferdinand Karl with Maria Beatrice d'Este in the Teatro Regio Ducale, Milan.

[4][5] Gallery in Clotilde's apartment Ruggiero, Bradamante's lover, has gone to war to defend Bulgaria against the Greeks and has been missing for months.

Leone returns; knowing he has no chance to defeat Bradamante and asks Ruggiero to fight in his place in disguise.

Ottone arrives and reports that unexpectedly, Leone has won by continuing to fight until the allotted time expired.

Leone reveals that Ruggiero fought in his place, and asks forgiveness for his mistakes – before he fell in love with Bradamante, he had already promised his heart to Clotilde.

The opera concludes with Emperor Carlo blessing the union of the two couples, Ruggiero and Bradamante, Clotilde and Leone.

[6] Metastasio had previously written a first version of the libretto at the request of Empress Maria Theresa for the marriage of Marie Antoinette with the future Louis XVI on May 16, 1770.

The following year, at the wedding of her son Ferdinand to Maria Beatrice d'Este, she ordered Metastasio to revise it for performance on October 16, 1771 in Milan.

The subject of knightly combat was not in keeping with the taste of the time and the plot seemed somewhat old-fashioned with its similarities to his earlier libretti L'Olimpiade and Nitteti.

Hasse's setting relied on extensive recitatives, which may not have helped, and his use of an expanded wind section and timpani to create a festive quality in the music was to no avail.

[9] The main roles in both works were taken by the soprano Antonia Maria Girelli Aguilar, the castrato Giovanni Manzuoli and the tenor Giuseppe Tibaldi.

Hasse is said to have remarked: "Questo ragazzo ci farà dimenticar tutti" ("This boy will make us all forgotten.")

The authenticity of this saying is questioned, but it is certain that Hasse admitted the failure of his opera, as can be seen from a letter dated October 30: "Il mio Ruggiero ebbe la prima sera tutte quelle fatalità che possono unirvi per far torto ad una produzione teatrale."

[7] On January 20, 1772, there was a follow-up performance at the Teatro San Carlo in Naples, for which Hasse slightly revised the score.

[7] The only other settings of Metastasio's libretto were by Antonio Gandini in 1820[13] and a version produced in Naples in 1838 with music by Samuel Holmes.