The first occasion was in Rome during the Carnival season of 1769, when, under the title of Il Cidde, he had set a libretto by Gioacchino Pizzi, previously used by Niccolò Piccinni, which retained its popularity for at least another decade.

After he moved to London, Sacchini returned to the subject for his English debut (Il Cid, 1773), using a reworking of Pizzi's libretto made by Giovanni Gualberto Bottarelli, the official poet of the King's Theatre.

The leading role was sung by another of the great castrati of the time, Giuseppe Millico, who, on his return in Italy, sponsored a second setting of the same libretto, by Giovanni Paisiello, in Florence in 1775.

[2] For his second French opera, he decided to return to the subject of the Cid, this time with a new libretto, entitled Chimène, prepared for him by the man who was to become his favourite poet in Paris, Nicolas-François Guillard.

Dennis Libby comments: "As might be expected, this libretto has the closest resemblance to Corneille's tragedy, while accommodating the French taste for choral singing and ballet".

[5] In fact, the case of Chimène bears strong similarities to that of Renaud, compared to Sacchini's previous Italian operas on the same theme, Armida (Milan and Florence, 1772) and Rinaldo (London, 1780).

"[6] The composition of Sacchini's second work for Paris must be placed in the context of the factional fighting which then dominated the French musical world, a sort of reprise of the Querelle des Bouffons a couple of decades earlier.

Hostilities began in the mid-1770s: the Italophile opponents of the German composer Gluck had managed to attract Piccinni, one of the leading exponents of the Neapolitan school, to Paris.

To level the playing field, the new prima donna of the Opéra, Antoinette Saint-Huberty, was to take the title role in both works and both pieces were due to have two performances each.

"[10] However, the Parisian public did not always agree with the opinion of the court, and many hoped Sacchini's work would be rescued by subsequent performances at the Opéra, then housed in the Salle du Théâtre de la Porte Saint-Martin.

[11] Yet the opera was not fully redeemed, and this cannot wholly be blamed on the specious difficulties created by the committee of the Académie Royale, which postponed performances until 9 February 1784 (in the meantime, Didon had been appearing regularly since 1 December and Saint-Huberty was "crowned" on stage on 16 January).

Rodrigue is torn between the conflicting demands of love and honour, but in the end he obeys Don Diegue and fights and kills Chimene's father, much to his despair.

The king enters and tries to console Chimène, treating her as his own daughter: he declares how fond he was of her dead father, but also reveals the respect in which everyone holds Rodrigue, the one man capable of leading the fight against the Moors.

In fact, the king wants to declare Rodrigue above the law, but the other knights are opposed, offering to take up the challenge on her behalf against the "Cid" in a trial by combat.

Don Sanche enters bearing Rodrigue's sword, but he is prevented from speaking by the curses of Chimène, who calls him a hateful murderer (Scene 4).

The king appears with his entourage and Chimène throws herself at his feet, confessing her unchanging love for the slain Rodrigue, and begging him to spare her the shame of having to marry the man who is guilty of his death.

Rodrigue then enters: he had defeated Don Sanche, but he had spared his life, sending him instead to offer Chimène the conqueror's sword, and he now asks her to accept him as husband of her own free will, and not by right of conquest.