Didone abbandonata was one of the greatest successes in the rather brief operatic career of Leonardo Vinci, a musician who apparently led an adventurous life, based on what little we know about it. Written for Rome’s Teatro delle Dame, the opera was premièred during the 1726 Carnival season. It marked the start of a fruitful collaboration between Vinci and Pietro Metastasio – in the four years following Didone abbandonata, Metastasio went on to write no fewer than five new librettos for Vinci. The success of that Rome première is replicated in this live recording from the Teatro de Firenze, which represents the first modern performance of Didone abbandonata and the revival of one of the great masterpieces of early 18th-century opera.

Cast:
- Didone: Roberta Mameli
- Enea: Carlo Allemano
- Iarba: Raffaele Pé
- Selene: Gabriella Costa
- Araspe: Marta Pluda
- Osmida: Giada Frasconi

Recording date & place: January 2017, Opera di Firenze, Maggio Musicale Fiorentino, Italy
Duration: 160 min.
Notes: Italian / English