First performed at Fontainebleau in 1783, Niccolò Piccinni’s Didon was the composer’s greatest success in France and one of the most important works of his Parisian period. Written to a libretto by Jean-François Marmontel and based on the story of Dido and Aeneas, the opera combines the formal grandeur of the French tragédie lyrique with the Italianate expressivity Piccinni brought to the Paris stage. It remained in the repertory of the Paris Opéra for more than forty years, receiving some 250 performances by 1826. In spite of being separated by over seventy years, Piccinni’s version suggests an influence on Berlioz’s later treatment of the same story in Les Troyens, marrying its classical subject matter with a monumental dramatic quality that highlights the emotional impact of the work in a way that few composers of the period were attempting.

Gabriella Tucci is commanding in the title role, conveying Didon’s imperious bearing and her ultimate heartbreak with the same conviction she brought to many of the Romantic heroines she portrayed.