Ossian ou les bardes

Ossian ou les bardes enjoyed the distinction of being the first work produced by the Académie Impériale de Musique. Its almost floundering libretto in five acts by Dercy and Deschamps was redeemed by Lesueur’s highly successful score; Milon and Pierre-Gabriel Gardel were in charge of the ballets. It was Napoléon’s favorite opera, and he presented its composer with a golden snuffbox inscribed, “The Emperor of the French to the author of Ossian”; Napoleon’s predilection for it doubtless enhanced…