Il Cid

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.