Antonio Maria Bononcini was the younger brother of Giovanni Bononcini, the well known eighteenth-century opera composer and rival to Handel in London. Both were successful composers of serious Italian opera in their day. Antonio's Griselda was one of the better known settings of Apostolo Zeno's libretto on the subject, which was set by many different composers. It premiered at the Regio Ducal Teatro in Milan on December 26, 1718, to favorable reviews. The ancient tale of Griselda was immortalized in literature and opera many times over the centuries, and was well known to opera audiences and literati alike. Zeno used Chaucer's Canterbury Tales and Boccacio's Il Decamerone as the sources for his story. Bononcini was quite faithful to Zeno's original text, which strips the story of its comic elements and lays bare a strong drama of conflicts and love. Bononcini's music displays many typical Baroque features, but also some forward looking features aligned with the pre-Classical style of the time. His arias are for the most part lively rather than pathetic, and his textures are somewhat thick when compared to those of his brother.

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