Floridante
![](/Images/godic/202501/13/George_Frideric_Handel_by_Balthasar_Denner3315.jpg")
![The King's Theatre, London, where Floridante had its first performance](/Images/godic/202501/13/London_Kings_Theatre_Haymarket3315.jpg")
![Caricature of Senesino, who created the role of Floridante](/Images/godic/202501/13/Zanetti_senesino3315.jpg")
Floridante (HWV 14) is an opera seria in three acts by George Frideric Handel. The Italian-language libretto was by Paolo Antonio Rolli after Francesco Silvani's libretto for Marc'Antonio Ziani dramma per musica La costanza in trionfo of 1696.
The opera was first given at the King's Theatre in London on 9 December 1721 and was a success with audiences, being revived by Handel in several subsequent seasons. The plot involves dynastic struggles and love tangles in a fictionalised Ancient Persia and is notable for an exceptionally beautiful duet,"Ah, mia cara."