It was composed in 1712 and first performed on 22 November of the same year under the composer. The opera opened to a largely hostile reception, probably due to disappointment after the success of
Rinaldo: one diarist noted critically that "the scene represented only the Country of Arcadia; the Habits [costumes] were old – the Opera short". The roles of Mirtillo and Silvio were originally sung by the
castratos
Valeriano Pellegrini and
Valentino Urbani. The overture is in six movements and is long for its time: it is thought that it may have been originally composed as an unrelated orchestral suite. The revival of the spring of 1734, in which
Giovanni Carestini took the role of Mirtillo, was far more successful, but Handel significantly altered the music: only seven of the original
arias remained, and those cut were replaced by arias from Handel's cantatas or earlier operas. This production proved popular and enjoyed a run of 13 performances. In the winter of 1734
Il pastor fido was revived again: Carestini remained as Mirtillo and the English
tenor John Beard took the role of Silvio. A newly composed prologue,
Terpsicore, was added to the opera for this run of performances. The prologue consisted of solo arias, choral movements, and orchestral writing for dance: the danced role of Terpsichore was performed by
Marie Sallé, whose dance company had been engaged by Covent Garden manager John Rich. As with all Baroque opera seria,
Il Pastor Fido went unperformed for many years, but with the revival of interest in Baroque music and
historically informed musical performance since the 1960s,
Il Pastor Fido, like all Handel operas, receives performances at festivals and opera houses today. Among other performances, the work was performed as part of the
London Handel Festival in 2012 and by the
Handel Festival Halle in 2019. == Roles ==