Pharnaces II of Pontus - Pharnaces II in Opera

Pharnaces II in Opera

The 18th-century librettist Antonio Maria Lucchini crafted a libretto based on incidents from the life of Pharnaces II that was originally set by Antonio Vivaldi in 1727 under the title Farnace. Based on the number of revivals of it that were staged, it must be counted as one of Vivaldi's most successful operas. A few later composers also set Lucchini's libretto, among them Josef Mysliveček, whose opera Farnace of 1767 was perhaps the best written after Vivaldi's setting.