History
Guillard's adaptation blends both 1739 and 1744 versions of Rameau's opera, but is based principally upon the second one. Although "the title-page of the printed score reads only 'paroles de M. Guillard', most of the text is by La Bruère". Guillard's interventions mainly consisted in " the Prologue, the order of events in Act 3, and skilfully Acts 4 and 5". The librettist "justified his redoing the subject ... that his aim was to tighten the plot and create better motivation for the characters". The dancing divertissement was done by Pierre Gardel.
The opera was not successful at its first appearance and had no more than six performances. Both Maillard, who played Iphise, and Larrivée, who played Teucer, were regarded as inadequate, the latter having to be replaced by Moreau after the second performance; the opera as a whole was deeply involved in the growing hostility towards Queen Marie Antoinette's predilection for foreigners, Sacchini being her favourite: she herself had introduced the musician to the king in 1783, when he had been celebrated at court along with another Italian composer Piccinni, when they had both been granted substantial pensions on account of their recently staged operas, Didon and Chimène.
Sacchini and Guillard later decided to revise Dardanus, reducing it to three acts and introducing new choreography by Gaetano Vestris. The new version was given at Fontainebleau on 20 October 1785 and was later brought to the stage of the Paris Opera on 17 January 1786, enjoying a total of 25 performances in 1786/1787. "It was mounted annually between 1800 and 1808, and it was sung on 28 dates in these nine years", before being definitively dropped.
Read more about this topic: Dardanus (Sacchini)
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