Metastasio on the Spanish stage

AN unprecedented event in the Spanish theatre occurred during Carnival 1736: two operas performed by Spanish companies were mounted simultaneously: Dar el ser el hijo al padre, and Por amor y por lealtad, recobrar la majestad: Demetrio en Siria, staged on the same day, 31 January. ¹ Both were Spanish translations, or rather adaptations, of Metastasio’s librettos Artaserse (Rome, 1730) and Demetrio (Vienna, 1731). In this way Italian opera was introduced to the Spanish stage through Metastasio, a link that would become still closer in subsequent years.