Hypsipyle from Lemnos to Vienna: an Approach to the Metastasian Heroine

Metastasio's Issipile (1732) is not among the poet's most discussed libretti. Apart from the beautiful music written by Conti for its premiere in Vienna, the interest resides in its operatic mechanisms and its deep bonds with classical tradition, in an intricate mixture of Greek and Latin sources, both adopted and adapted by Metastasio. Originating from the research done for my Masterarbeit at the Schola Cantorum Basiliensis and in the view of our future research on Metastasio and classical tradition, the article introduces the libretto, an overview on the classical sources of the myth and the main musical and literary features of the work.