Arminio HWV 36

Antonio Salvi’s “Arminio” is one of the best-loved operatic librettos of the Baroque period.

Against the historical background of the so-called “Battle of the Teutoburg Forest” in 9 AD in which the Cherusci leader Arminius as “Liberator of Germany” (Tacitus) inflicted a devastating defeat on the Romans, Handel’s opera, first performed in 1737, is about the disputes between the Chatti and the Cherusci. Arminius has married the daughter of his arch-enemy Segestes. When he is imprisoned, Segestes, who has conspired with the Romans, sees his opportunity for revenge.