Performance History
It was first performed at the Académie de musique in Paris on November 19, 1739. It received 26 performances, mainly because of the support from Rameau's followers in the dispute between the styles of Rameau and Lully.
Critics accused Rameau's original opera of lacking a coherent plot. The inclusion of the sea monster also violated the French operatic convention of having a clear purpose for encounters with supernatural beings.
In 1744 (with help from Simon-Joseph Pellegrin), and again in 1760, Dardanus was revised extensively in an attempt to correct its shortcomings. Large portions of the score were sacrificed in favour of plot but some scenes as arresting as the "Prison scene" (1744) were added in the process.
Dardanus was produced three times in the 20th century: in 1907 at Dijon, in 1979 at the Opéra de Paris, and finally in 1998, in a concert version, at the time of a recording (below) by Marc Minkowski. The Royal Academy of Music also staged Dardanus in London in 2006.
Read more about this topic: Dardanus (opera)
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