Polish story of Metastasio's "Themistocles"

Several melodramas of the poet laureate were presented in Warsaw at the court theater of King Augustus III accompanied by the music of Johann Adolf Hasse, but in the 18th century the librettos were also of interest to Polish writers. In fact over the century we can count fifty translations, of which only a part was published in print. Translations circulated especially in schools, staged in the theaters of the Jesuits, Theatines or Piarists. In them we sense a special attention of the translators to the needs and expectations of the environment of these readers. None of the translations was aimed at a musical performance on stage. The translators’ strategy led in most cases to a change in genre: from melodrama to tragedy. To present different approaches to the texts of Metastasian operas between the middle and the end of the century, this article analyzes five versions of Themistocles, a heroic drama that was especially appreciated in Poland.