Composers: Mercadante
Compositions: Didone Abbandonata
Performers: Academia Montis Regalis/Alessandro De Marchi
Catalogue Number: Naxos 2110630 (DVD),
NBD0095V (Blu-ray)

Before the highly-competent Saverio Mercadante (1795-1870) was writing fine sub-Verdian works such as Orazi e Curiazi, he was a bel canto wizard whose operas are as good as, if not better than many of Rossini’s. If Didone Abbandonata (1823) doesn’t reach the heights of Semiramide (composed the same year), this staging from the 2018 Innsbruck Festival of Early Music reveals a substantial work with catchy, well-crafted music.

Based on the tail-end of the Dido and Aeneas story, Metastasio’s treatment is unnecessarily burdened with romantic...