Didon. Tragédie-Lyrique en trois actes - INTERESTING COPY WITH MANUSCRIPT INSERTIONS DURING THE REVOLUTION

Paris: P. de Lormel. 1783. First edition. Représentée à Fontainebleau devant leurs Majestés le 16 Octobre 1783 et pour la première fois sur le théatre de l'Académie Royale de Musique le 1er Décembre 1783. 1-307 pp. [lacking title page]. Full orchestral score of this 'tragedie lyrique,' with interesting manuscript annotations from an adaptation evidently undertaken during the Revolution, with new texts written in ink (p. 185 - 195, 213-224, 292-307) beneath the printed texts. This patriotic song, probably written by emigrant Irish resistance, glorifies the French and the General Lazare Hoche of the Revolutionary army, who died in 1797. It was he who lead the Ireland Expedition of Revolutionary troops sent to assist the United Irishmen in their rebellion against British rule. A tempest, however, separated Hoche from the expedition, and after various adventures the whole fleet returned to Brest without having effected its purpose.

Some selections from the present text: 'Braves guerriers, delivrez-nous, allons la nage, vers le general, vers la plage, qui Pitt tombe enfin sous no coups [...] Victoire braves Francaises, le sceptre a succombe et ce jour vit fondee l'auguste liberte. Republicains pleins de courage pour elle vous avez combattu, l'humanite vous rend hommage, la gloire a suivi la vertu [...] L'objet de nos douleurs Hoche peine a trent ans [...] Sa gloire immortelle comme ses vertus, ses bienfais. Dieux il combattait pour la paix."

With Didon, Piccini demonstrated his ability to combine both Italian and French styles to create a compelling tragédie lyrique. The opera includes lyrical Italian melodies and a second-act finale, as well as French choruses and numbers that transition continuously without pauses. Didon was premiered at Fountainebleau on 16 October 1783, and it remained one of Piccini’s most popular French operas, with performances through the first part of the nineteenth century.

Piccini is considered "one of the central figures in Italian and French opera in the second half of the 18th century... In 1783 [he] reached his second peak with a highly successful revival of Atys and the introduction of Didon, which momentarily eclipsed the rising star of Sacchini. The triumph of Didon was partly due to the exceptional performance of Mme de Saint-Huberty in the title role." (Grove Online) (9188)

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Printed Music

Opera

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