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Dardanus (1784) - Antonio Sacchini
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Background
Like Renaud, Sacchini’s second French opera, Dardanus, faced problems due in large part to the composer’s Italian heritage. The opera is based on Rameau’s Dardanus, which had been a topic of earlier dispute between the Lullistes and the Ramistes. After an initially disappointing reception, Dardanus was reduced from four acts to three. In its first form, the opera received only six performances, but the three-act version was performed more than thirty times during the eighteenth century. Dardanus went on to enjoy several productions in the first decade of the nineteenth century.
Plot
A romantic conflict is established in the first act, due to the Phrygian princess Iphise’s love for Dardanus, who is prince of a nearby land. Dardanus is away at war when Anténor, the Phrygian army captain who also loves Iphise, consults the magician Isménor to find out if anyone else is pursuing his romantic interest. A celebration at the end of the act recognizes Dardanus’s triumph in a battle.
In Act Two, Dardanus and Iphise plan to wed, but Dardanus is captured when he departs to help his army fight in the war.
Act Three reveals that the Phrygians have imprisoned Dardanus. Iphise’s father Teucer, the king of the Phrygians, does not agree with his people that Dardanus should be executed, but Anténor presses for the rival’s demise, also insisting on Iphise’s hand in marriage; the captain ultimately decides against having Dardanus killed.
While Dardanus is held captive in Act Four, Isménor turns the prison into a beautiful garden for a divertissement scene. Dardanus learns that the gods have resolved to free him and that Anténor will die. To fulfill this prophesy, Iphise sneaks into the prison to rescue Dardanus. At the same time, Dardanus’s army has launched an attack on the Phrygians, ultimately leading to Anténor’s death. Before Anténor passes away, however, he admits that he still wished to murder Dardanus. The opposing army also imprisons Teucer, who still will not consent to a union between his daughter and Dardanus, until the king is guaranteed freedom if the two lovers are allowed to marry.
Bibliography
Title from title page: DARDANUS / TRAGÉDIE LYRIQUE / En quatre Actes
Genre: Tragédie lyrique
Composer: Antonio Sacchini, 1730-1786
Librettist: Nicolas-François Guillard, 1752-1814
Libretto based on: Rameau and La Bruère’s Dardanus
Setting: Ancient Phrygia
Premiere: Paris, Opéra, 18 September 1784
First published: Paris: Auteur, Sieber, n.d.
Volume in the UNT Collection: Paris: Auteur, Sieber, n.d.
For further reading on Dardanus, see:
Demuth, Norman. French Opera: Its Development to the Revolution. Sussex: Artemis Press, 1963.
Jullien, Adolphe. La cour et l’opéra sous Louis XIV: Marie-Antoinette et Sacchini, Salieri, Favart et Gluck. Paris: Didier, 1878.
Rushton, Julian. “Dardanus (ii).” Grove Music Online, ed. Laura Macy. [Accessed 5 April 2004]. <http://www.grovemusic.com>
Thierstein, Eldred. Antonio Maria Gaspero Sacchini and His French Operas. Ph.D. diss., University of Cincinnati, 1974.
Physical
Dimensions: 35.6 x 25.5 cm.
Conservation: Foxing; cockling; bleed-through and bleed-across; holes and frass; some discoloration; pencil marks throughout; worn cover with front cover separating from spine.
Binding: Green leather.
Comments: From the Lloyd Hibberd Collection; North Texas property stamps.