Oreste is a three act opera seria, composed in honor of the birthday celebrations of the Queen of Naples on August 13, 1783. The authorship of the text was given to the court poet, Luigi Serio, whose aesthetic theories resemble Ranieri Calzabigi. It was Calzabigi and Gluck who would later reform French Opera and place greater importance on dramatic verisimilitude. Serio especially believed in simplicity which revealed the drama of the story and the integrity of the artistic whole. Cimarosa's setting reflects the influence of Serio, for there is greater unity between the arias and recitative, which freely merge with one another to provide musical and dramatic continuity. The source for Serio's libretto is from a text by Giangualberto Barlocci's L'Oreste, and the original plays by Euripides which concern Electra and Orestes. One of the central forces in the opera is the oracle of Apollo, and the confused passions of the various characters.

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