Sacchini, Antonio: Il Cid (Bottarelli), London 1773
£94.00
Facsimile: Printed score, Robert Bremner, 1773 and libretto, W. Griffin, 1773.
Introduction by Dennis Libby
The opera seria Il Cid, by Antonio Sacchini and Giovanni Gualberto Bottarelli, was given at the King’s Theatre in 1773. All the evidence suggests that Il Cid was a great success. It was given 22 times, a season total exceeded in the previous decade only by La buona figliuola. Unlike that long-popular work, however, it was not revived in any subsequent season and none of Sacchini’s London operas is known to survive complete; their principle sources are the printed ‘Favourite Song’ collections.