This opera was composed by commission of the Bavarian and Palatinate elector Karl Theodor. The myth of Idomeneo had already been used in musical theater. In 1712, a five-act opera by the famous composer André Campra was presented in Paris that was written to the libretto of poet and playwright Antoine Danchet, an author of 12 tragedies and librettos, mainly on classical subjects. His "Idomeneo" is full of tragic events and ends in a bloody denouement. The Abbot Giambattista Varesco, chaplain of the Archbishop of Salzburg, translated the text of this libretto into Italian and adapted it to the specifics of the opera seria. He changed the five acts into three acts and the bloody denouement into a happy one.
The opera was premiered on January 29, 1781, at the National Theater of Munich.
