Dido and Aeneas
Encyclopedia
Dido and Aeneas is an opera
in a prologue and three acts by the English Baroque
composer Henry Purcell
to a libretto by Nahum Tate
. The first known performance was at Josias Priest
's girls' school in London no later than the summer of 1688. The story is based on Book IV of Virgil's
Aeneid
. It recounts the love story of Dido, Queen of Carthage and the Trojan
hero Aeneas
, and her despair at his abandonment of her. A monumental work in Baroque opera, it is remembered as one of Purcell's foremost theatrical works. Dido and Aeneas was Purcell's first opera, as well as his only all-sung dramatic work. It is among the earliest English operas, and owes much to John Blow's
Venus and Adonis
, both in structure and overall effect.
's Theodosius, or The Force of Love (1680) and eight songs for Thomas d'Urfey
's A Fool's Preferment (1688). He also composed songs for two plays by Nahum Tate
(who was to become the librettist of Dido and Aeneas), The Sicilian Usurper (1680) and Cuckold-Haven (1685). Dido and Aeneas was Purcell's first (and only) all-sung opera and derives from the English masque
tradition.
and Mary
. In a poem of about 1686, Tate alluded to James II
as Aeneas, who is misled by the evil machinations of the Sorceress and her witches (representing Roman Catholicism, a common metaphor at the time) into abandoning Dido, who symbolizes the British people. The same symbolism may apply to the opera. This explains the addition of the characters of the Sorceress and the witches, which do not appear in the original Aeneid. It would be noble, or at least acceptable, for Aeneas to follow the decree of the Gods, but not so acceptable for him to be tricked by ill-meaning spirits.
Although the opera is a tragedy, there are numerous seemingly lighter scenes, such as the First Sailor's song, "Take a boozy short leave of your nymphs on the shore, and silence their mourning with vows of returning, though never intending to visit them more." Harris considers the callousness and cynicism of the song to underline the "moral" of the story, that young women should not succumb to the advances and promises of ardent young men.
, was copied no earlier than 1750, well over sixty years after the opera was composed. No later sources follow the act divisions of the libretto, and the music to the prologue is lost. The prologue, the end of the act 2 'Grove' scene, and several dances, were almost certainly lost when the opera was divided into parts to be performed as interludes between the acts of spoken plays in the first decade of the eighteenth century.
The first of the arias to be published separately was "Ah, Belinda" in Orpheus Britannicus
. The most famous aria of the work is "When I am laid in earth", popularly known as "Dido's Lament
". Both arias are formed on a lament
o ground bass. "Dido's Lament" has been performed or recorded by artists far from the typical operatic school, such as Klaus Nomi
(as "Death"), Ane Brun
and Jeff Buckley
. It has also been transcribed or used in many scores, including the soundtrack to the HBO miniseries Band of Brothers (renamed "Nixon's Walk"). It is played annually (by a military band) at the Cenotaph remembrance ceremony
, which takes place on the Sunday nearest to November 11 (Armistice Day
) in London's Whitehall. The music is thought by some to be too simple for Purcell in 1689, but this may simply reflect that the intended performers were schoolchildren. The work is scored for four-part strings and continuo. The fact that the libretto from the Chelsea School performance indicates two dances for guitar, the "Dance Gittars Chacony" in act 1, and the "Gittar Ground a Dance" in the 'Grove' scene of act 2, has led one scholar to suggest that Purcell envisioned a guitar as a primary member of the continuo group for the opera. Music for neither of these dances is extant, and it seems likely that Purcell did not compose them, but rather left them to be improvised by the guitarist. Several editions of the opera have been made and have been provided with a continuo realization; a notable, if rather idiosyncratic edition being that made by Imogen Holst
and Benjamin Britten
. There are a number of editions with realizations, and the opera's accessibility to amateur performers is a feature that has greatly abbetted the growth of its popularity in the latter half of the twentieth century. While the Prologue's music has been lost and has not been reconstructed, several realizations of the opera include a solution to the missing ritornello at the end of the second act. Known to have been part of the score, it is now performed as a dance taken from other, similar works by Purcell, or invented outright in the same vein, to keep the integrity and continuity of the performance.
's girls' school in Chelsea, London
no later than July of 1688, although there has been speculation that it may have been written for an earlier performance at the court of Charles II or James II
. Following the Chelsea performances, the opera was not staged again in Purcell's lifetime. Its next performance was in 1700 as a masque
incorporated into an adapted version of Shakespeare's Measure for Measure
at Thomas Betterton
's theatre in London.
After 1705 it disappeared as a staged work, with only sporadic concert performances, until 1895 when the first staged version in modern times was performed by students of the Royal College of Music
at London's Lyceum Theatre to mark the bicentenary of Purcell's death. Dido and Aeneas received its first performance outside England on 14 December 1895 in a concert version at the University Society in Dublin.
noted that "considerable liberties" had been taken with the score. A concert version with professional musicians organized by the Society of Friends of Music took place on 13 January 1924 at the New York City Town Hall, using a score edited by Artur Bodanzky
, who also conducted the performance. As new critical editions of the score appeared, and with the revival of interest in Baroque music, the number of productions steadily increased. After Jonathan Miller
's visit to Bornholm
, Denmark, Dido was performed (2008) at Rønne
Theatre (built in 1823). Devin Duggan conducted. Amongst the new productions of the opera in 2009 (the 350th anniversary of Purcell's birth) were those staged by the De Nederlandse Opera
, the Royal Opera, London
, the Divertimento Baroque Opera Company, and Glimmerglass Opera
in Cooperstown, New York
. The Royal Opera production, which featured contemporary dance by Wayne McGregor Random Dance and animated effects by Mark Hatchard
of Hotbox Studios and Hotbox Events
, formed part of a double bill with Handel's Acis and Galatea.
was choreographed by the American Mark Morris
, who originally danced both the roles of Dido and the Sorceress. It premiered on 11 March 1989 at the Théâtre Varia in Brussels
. It has since been performed many times and was filmed in 1995 by Canadian director Barbara Willis Sweete, with Morris in the roles of Dido and the Sorceress. Another dance version, choreographed by Sasha Waltz
, premiered at the Staatsoper Unter den Linden in Berlin on 29 January 2005 and opened with the dancers performing underwater in an enormous tank. The production was subsequently seen at the Grand Théâtre in Luxembourg
, Opéra national de Montpellier
, and Sadler's Wells Theatre
in London. In both the Morris and the Waltz adaptations, the characters are each portrayed by both a singer and a dancer, with the dancers onstage and the singers performing from the side of the stage or the orchestra pit.
The opera opens with Dido in her court with her attendants. Belinda is trying to cheer up Dido, but Dido is full of sorrow, saying 'Peace and I are strangers grown'. Belinda believes the source of this grief to be the Trojan Aeneas, and suggests that Carthage's troubles could be resolved by a marriage between the two. Dido and Belinda talk for a time—Dido fears that her love will make her a weak monarch, but Belinda and the Second Woman reassure her that "The hero loves as well." Aeneas enters the court, and is at first received coldly by Dido, but she eventually accepts his proposal of marriage.
The Sorceress/Sorcerer is plotting the destruction of Carthage and its queen, and calls in her companions to help her in her evil plans. She plans to send her "trusted elf" disguised as Mercury, someone to whom Aeneas will surely listen, to tempt him to leave Dido and sail to Italy. This would leave Dido heartbroken, and she would surely die. The chorus join in with terrible laughter, and the Enchantresses decide to conjure up a storm to make Dido and her train leave the grove and return to the palace. When the spell is prepared, the witches vanish in a thunderclap.
Scene 2: A grove during the middle of a hunt
Dido and Aeneas are accompanied by their train. They stop at the grove to take in its beauty. A lot of action is going on, with attendants carrying goods from the hunt and a picnic possibly taking place, and Dido and Aeneas are together within the activity. This is all stopped when Dido hears distant thunder, prompting Belinda to tell the servants to prepare for a return to shelter as soon as possible. As every other character leaves the stage, Aeneas is stopped by the Sorceress's elf, who is disguised as Mercury. This pretend Mercury brings the command of Jove that Aeneas is to wait no longer in beginning his task of creating a new Troy on Latin soil. Aeneas consents to the wishes of what he believes are the gods, but is heart-broken that he will have to leave Dido. He then goes off-stage to prepare for his departure from Carthage.
Preparations are being made for the departure of the Trojan fleet. The sailors sing a song, which is followed shortly by the Sorceress and her companions' sudden appearance. The group is pleased at how well their plan has worked, and the Sorceress sings a solo describing her further plans for the destruction of Aeneas "on the ocean". All the characters begin to clear the stage after a dance in three sections, and then disperse.
The palace
Dido and Belinda enter, shocked at Aeneas’ disappearance. Dido is distraught and Belinda comforts her. Suddenly Aeneas returns, but Dido is full of fear before Aeneas speaks, and his words only serve to confirm her suspicions. She derides his reasons for leaving, and even when Aeneas says he will defy the gods and not leave Carthage, Dido rejects him for having once thought of leaving her. After Dido forces Aeneas to leave, she states that "Death must come when he is gone." The opera and Dido's life both slowly come to a conclusion, as the Queen of Carthage sings her last aria, "When I am laid in Earth"
, also known as "Dido's Lament." The chorus and orchestra then conclude the opera once Dido is dead by ordering the "cupids to scatter roses on her tomb, soft and gentle as her heart. Keep here your watch, and never never never part."
in 1935 with Nancy Evans
as Dido and Roy Henderson as Aeneas, followed in 1945 by HMV's release with Joan Hammond
and Dennis Noble
. Kirsten Flagstad
, who had sung the role at the Mermaid Theatre
in London, recorded it in 1951 for EMI
with Thomas Hemsley
as Aeneas. Dido and Aeneas has been recorded many times since the 1960s with Dido sung by mezzo-soprano
s such as Janet Baker
(1961), Victoria de los Ángeles
(1965), Tatiana Troyanos
(1968), Teresa Berganza
(1986), Anne Sofie von Otter (1989) and Susan Graham
(2003). In addition to Joan Hammond and Kirsten Flagstad, soprano
s who have recorded the role include Emma Kirkby
(1981), Jessye Norman
(1986), Catherine Bott
(1992), and Lynne Dawson
(1998).
Beginning with Andrew Parrott
's 1981 recording for Chandos
with the Taverner Consort and Players
, there was an increasing preference for a more genuine period sound
. Further recordings by conductors and ensembles using this approach include those by Christopher Hogwood
and The Academy of Ancient Music, William Christie
and Les Arts Florissants
(1986); Trevor Pinnock
and The English Concert
(1989); René Jacobs and the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment
(1998); Emmanuelle Haïm
and Le Concert d'Astrée (2003); and Predrag Gosta
and New Trinity Baroque
(2004). The Haïm recording with Susan Graham
as Dido and Ian Bostridge
as Aeneas was nominated for the Best Opera Recording
in the 2005 Grammy Award
s.
Several performances of the opera have been filmed and are available on DVD, most recently the 2008 performance at the Opéra-Comique
in Paris conducted by William Christie and directed by Deborah Warner
(FRA Musica FRA001) and the 2009 performance at London's Royal Opera House
conducted by Christopher Hogwood
and directed by Wayne McGregor
(OpusArte OA1018D). The Mark Morris dance version of the opera is also preserved on DVD (recorded 1995, Image Entertainment 8741) as is the dance version by Sasha Waltz (recorded 2005, Arthaus Musik 101311)
Opera
Opera is an art form in which singers and musicians perform a dramatic work combining text and musical score, usually in a theatrical setting. Opera incorporates many of the elements of spoken theatre, such as acting, scenery, and costumes and sometimes includes dance...
in a prologue and three acts by the English Baroque
Baroque music
Baroque music describes a style of Western Classical music approximately extending from 1600 to 1760. This era follows the Renaissance and was followed in turn by the Classical era...
composer Henry Purcell
Henry Purcell
Henry Purcell – 21 November 1695), was an English organist and Baroque composer of secular and sacred music. Although Purcell incorporated Italian and French stylistic elements into his compositions, his legacy was a uniquely English form of Baroque music...
to a libretto by Nahum Tate
Nahum Tate
Nahum Tate was an Irish poet, hymnist, and lyricist, who became England's poet laureate in 1692.-Life:Nahum Teate came from a family of Puritan clergymen...
. The first known performance was at Josias Priest
Josias Priest
Josias Priest was an English dancer, dancing-master and choreographer.- History :In 1669, he was arrested along with four others for dancing and making music without a license. In 1668, he was a dancing-master in Holborn, and in 1675 he moved to Leicester Fields to run a boarding school for...
's girls' school in London no later than the summer of 1688. The story is based on Book IV of Virgil's
Virgil
Publius Vergilius Maro, usually called Virgil or Vergil in English , was an ancient Roman poet of the Augustan period. He is known for three major works of Latin literature, the Eclogues , the Georgics, and the epic Aeneid...
Aeneid
Aeneid
The Aeneid is a Latin epic poem, written by Virgil between 29 and 19 BC, that tells the legendary story of Aeneas, a Trojan who travelled to Italy, where he became the ancestor of the Romans. It is composed of roughly 10,000 lines in dactylic hexameter...
. It recounts the love story of Dido, Queen of Carthage and the Trojan
Troy
Troy was a city, both factual and legendary, located in northwest Anatolia in what is now Turkey, southeast of the Dardanelles and beside Mount Ida...
hero Aeneas
Aeneas
Aeneas , in Greco-Roman mythology, was a Trojan hero, the son of the prince Anchises and the goddess Aphrodite. His father was the second cousin of King Priam of Troy, making Aeneas Priam's second cousin, once removed. The journey of Aeneas from Troy , which led to the founding a hamlet south of...
, and her despair at his abandonment of her. A monumental work in Baroque opera, it is remembered as one of Purcell's foremost theatrical works. Dido and Aeneas was Purcell's first opera, as well as his only all-sung dramatic work. It is among the earliest English operas, and owes much to John Blow's
John Blow
John Blow was an English Baroque composer and organist, appointed to Westminster Abbey in 1669. His pupils included William Croft, Jeremiah Clarke and Henry Purcell. In 1685 he was named a private musician to James II. His only stage composition, Venus and Adonis John Blow (baptised 23 February...
Venus and Adonis
Venus and Adonis (opera)
Venus and Adonis is an opera in three acts and a prologue by the English Baroque composer John Blow, composed in about 1683. It was written for the court of King Charles II at either London or Windsor. It is considered by some to be either a semi-opera or a masque, but The New Grove names it as the...
, both in structure and overall effect.
Background and context
Prior to Dido and Aeneas, Purcell had composed music for several stage works including nine pieces for Nathaniel LeeNathaniel Lee
Nathaniel Lee was an English dramatist.He was the son of Dr Richard Lee, a Presbyterian clergyman who was rector of Hatfield and held many preferments under the Commonwealth...
's Theodosius, or The Force of Love (1680) and eight songs for Thomas d'Urfey
Thomas d'Urfey
Thomas D'Urfey was an English writer and wit. He composed plays, songs, and poetry, in addition to writing jokes. He was an important innovator and contributor in the evolution of the Ballad opera....
's A Fool's Preferment (1688). He also composed songs for two plays by Nahum Tate
Nahum Tate
Nahum Tate was an Irish poet, hymnist, and lyricist, who became England's poet laureate in 1692.-Life:Nahum Teate came from a family of Puritan clergymen...
(who was to become the librettist of Dido and Aeneas), The Sicilian Usurper (1680) and Cuckold-Haven (1685). Dido and Aeneas was Purcell's first (and only) all-sung opera and derives from the English masque
Masque
The masque was a form of festive courtly entertainment which flourished in 16th and early 17th century Europe, though it was developed earlier in Italy, in forms including the intermedio...
tradition.
Libretto
Originally based on Nahum Tate's play Brutus of Alba, or The Enchanted Lovers (1678), the opera is likely, at least to some extent, to be allegorical. The prologue refers to the joy of a marriage between two monarchs, which could refer to the marriage between WilliamWilliam III of England
William III & II was a sovereign Prince of Orange of the House of Orange-Nassau by birth. From 1672 he governed as Stadtholder William III of Orange over Holland, Zeeland, Utrecht, Guelders, and Overijssel of the Dutch Republic. From 1689 he reigned as William III over England and Ireland...
and Mary
Mary II of England
Mary II was joint Sovereign of England, Scotland, and Ireland with her husband and first cousin, William III and II, from 1689 until her death. William and Mary, both Protestants, became king and queen regnant, respectively, following the Glorious Revolution, which resulted in the deposition of...
. In a poem of about 1686, Tate alluded to James II
James II of England
James II & VII was King of England and King of Ireland as James II and King of Scotland as James VII, from 6 February 1685. He was the last Catholic monarch to reign over the Kingdoms of England, Scotland, and Ireland...
as Aeneas, who is misled by the evil machinations of the Sorceress and her witches (representing Roman Catholicism, a common metaphor at the time) into abandoning Dido, who symbolizes the British people. The same symbolism may apply to the opera. This explains the addition of the characters of the Sorceress and the witches, which do not appear in the original Aeneid. It would be noble, or at least acceptable, for Aeneas to follow the decree of the Gods, but not so acceptable for him to be tricked by ill-meaning spirits.
Although the opera is a tragedy, there are numerous seemingly lighter scenes, such as the First Sailor's song, "Take a boozy short leave of your nymphs on the shore, and silence their mourning with vows of returning, though never intending to visit them more." Harris considers the callousness and cynicism of the song to underline the "moral" of the story, that young women should not succumb to the advances and promises of ardent young men.
Score
No score in Purcell's hand is extant, and the only seventeenth-century source is a libretto, possibly from the original performance. The earliest extant score, held in the Bodleian LibraryBodleian Library
The Bodleian Library , the main research library of the University of Oxford, is one of the oldest libraries in Europe, and in Britain is second in size only to the British Library...
, was copied no earlier than 1750, well over sixty years after the opera was composed. No later sources follow the act divisions of the libretto, and the music to the prologue is lost. The prologue, the end of the act 2 'Grove' scene, and several dances, were almost certainly lost when the opera was divided into parts to be performed as interludes between the acts of spoken plays in the first decade of the eighteenth century.
The first of the arias to be published separately was "Ah, Belinda" in Orpheus Britannicus
Orpheus Britannicus
Orpheus Britannicus is a collection of songs by Henry Purcell, published posthumously in London in two volumes, the first in 1698 and the second in 1702...
. The most famous aria of the work is "When I am laid in earth", popularly known as "Dido's Lament
Dido's lament
"Dido's Lament" is the commonly-used name for the noted aria, "When I am laid in earth", from the opera, Dido and Aeneas, by Henry Purcell ....
". Both arias are formed on a lament
Lament
A lament or lamentation is a song, poem, or piece of music expressing grief, regret, or mourning.-History:Many of the oldest and most lasting poems in human history have been laments. Laments are present in both the Iliad and the Odyssey, and laments continued to be sung in elegiacs accompanied by...
o ground bass. "Dido's Lament" has been performed or recorded by artists far from the typical operatic school, such as Klaus Nomi
Klaus Nomi
Klaus Sperber , better known as Klaus Nomi, was a German countertenor noted for his wide vocal range and an unusual, otherworldly stage persona....
(as "Death"), Ane Brun
Ane Brun
Ane Brun is a songwriter, guitarist and vocalist. Since 2003 she has recorded eight albums, four of which are studio albums, a live DVD and a collection of duets...
and Jeff Buckley
Jeff Buckley
Jeffrey Scott "Jeff" Buckley , raised as Scotty Moorhead, was an American singer-songwriter and guitarist. He was the son of Tim Buckley, also a musician...
. It has also been transcribed or used in many scores, including the soundtrack to the HBO miniseries Band of Brothers (renamed "Nixon's Walk"). It is played annually (by a military band) at the Cenotaph remembrance ceremony
Remembrance Sunday
In the United Kingdom, 'Remembrance Sunday' is held on the second Sunday in November, which is the Sunday nearest to 11 November Armistice Day. It is the anniversary of the end of hostilities in the First World War at 11 a.m...
, which takes place on the Sunday nearest to November 11 (Armistice Day
Armistice Day
Armistice Day is on 11 November and commemorates the armistice signed between the Allies of World War I and Germany at Compiègne, France, for the cessation of hostilities on the Western Front of World War I, which took effect at eleven o'clock in the morning—the "eleventh hour of the eleventh day...
) in London's Whitehall. The music is thought by some to be too simple for Purcell in 1689, but this may simply reflect that the intended performers were schoolchildren. The work is scored for four-part strings and continuo. The fact that the libretto from the Chelsea School performance indicates two dances for guitar, the "Dance Gittars Chacony" in act 1, and the "Gittar Ground a Dance" in the 'Grove' scene of act 2, has led one scholar to suggest that Purcell envisioned a guitar as a primary member of the continuo group for the opera. Music for neither of these dances is extant, and it seems likely that Purcell did not compose them, but rather left them to be improvised by the guitarist. Several editions of the opera have been made and have been provided with a continuo realization; a notable, if rather idiosyncratic edition being that made by Imogen Holst
Imogen Holst
Imogen Clare Holst, CBE was a British composer and conductor, and sole child of composer Gustav Holst.Imogen Holst was brought up in west London and educated at St Paul's Girls' School, where her father was director of music...
and Benjamin Britten
Benjamin Britten
Edward Benjamin Britten, Baron Britten, OM CH was an English composer, conductor, and pianist. He showed talent from an early age, and first came to public attention with the a cappella choral work A Boy Was Born in 1934. With the premiere of his opera Peter Grimes in 1945, he leapt to...
. There are a number of editions with realizations, and the opera's accessibility to amateur performers is a feature that has greatly abbetted the growth of its popularity in the latter half of the twentieth century. While the Prologue's music has been lost and has not been reconstructed, several realizations of the opera include a solution to the missing ritornello at the end of the second act. Known to have been part of the score, it is now performed as a dance taken from other, similar works by Purcell, or invented outright in the same vein, to keep the integrity and continuity of the performance.
Premiere and early revivals
The first known performance of Dido and Aeneas was at Josias PriestJosias Priest
Josias Priest was an English dancer, dancing-master and choreographer.- History :In 1669, he was arrested along with four others for dancing and making music without a license. In 1668, he was a dancing-master in Holborn, and in 1675 he moved to Leicester Fields to run a boarding school for...
's girls' school in Chelsea, London
Chelsea, London
Chelsea is an area of West London, England, bounded to the south by the River Thames, where its frontage runs from Chelsea Bridge along the Chelsea Embankment, Cheyne Walk, Lots Road and Chelsea Harbour. Its eastern boundary was once defined by the River Westbourne, which is now in a pipe above...
no later than July of 1688, although there has been speculation that it may have been written for an earlier performance at the court of Charles II or James II
James II of England
James II & VII was King of England and King of Ireland as James II and King of Scotland as James VII, from 6 February 1685. He was the last Catholic monarch to reign over the Kingdoms of England, Scotland, and Ireland...
. Following the Chelsea performances, the opera was not staged again in Purcell's lifetime. Its next performance was in 1700 as a masque
Masque
The masque was a form of festive courtly entertainment which flourished in 16th and early 17th century Europe, though it was developed earlier in Italy, in forms including the intermedio...
incorporated into an adapted version of Shakespeare's Measure for Measure
Measure for Measure
Measure for Measure is a play by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written in 1603 or 1604. It was classified as comedy, but its mood defies those expectations. As a result and for a variety of reasons, some critics have labelled it as one of Shakespeare's problem plays...
at Thomas Betterton
Thomas Betterton
Thomas Patrick Betterton , English actor, son of an under-cook to King Charles I, was born in London.-Apprentice and actor:...
's theatre in London.
After 1705 it disappeared as a staged work, with only sporadic concert performances, until 1895 when the first staged version in modern times was performed by students of the Royal College of Music
Royal College of Music
The Royal College of Music is a conservatoire founded by Royal Charter in 1882, located in South Kensington, London, England.-Background:The first director was Sir George Grove and he was followed by Sir Hubert Parry...
at London's Lyceum Theatre to mark the bicentenary of Purcell's death. Dido and Aeneas received its first performance outside England on 14 December 1895 in a concert version at the University Society in Dublin.
20th and 21st century performances
Dido and Aeneas premiered in the United States at the Plaza Hotel in New York City on 10 February 1923 performed by the girls of the Rosemary School, although The New York TimesThe New York Times
The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
noted that "considerable liberties" had been taken with the score. A concert version with professional musicians organized by the Society of Friends of Music took place on 13 January 1924 at the New York City Town Hall, using a score edited by Artur Bodanzky
Artur Bodanzky
Artur Bodanzky was an Austrian-American conductor particularly associated with the operas of Wagner.- Career :...
, who also conducted the performance. As new critical editions of the score appeared, and with the revival of interest in Baroque music, the number of productions steadily increased. After Jonathan Miller
Jonathan Miller
Sir Jonathan Wolfe Miller CBE is a British theatre and opera director, author, physician, television presenter, humorist and sculptor. Trained as a physician in the late 1950s, he first came to prominence in the 1960s with his role in the comedy revue Beyond the Fringe with fellow writers and...
's visit to Bornholm
Bornholm
Bornholm is a Danish island in the Baltic Sea located to the east of the rest of Denmark, the south of Sweden, and the north of Poland. The main industries on the island include fishing, arts and crafts like glass making and pottery using locally worked clay, and dairy farming. Tourism is...
, Denmark, Dido was performed (2008) at Rønne
Rønne
Rønne is the largest town on the Danish island of Bornholm in the Baltic Sea. It has a population of 13,904 . Once a municipality in its own right, it is now the administrative centre of the Bornholm municipality....
Theatre (built in 1823). Devin Duggan conducted. Amongst the new productions of the opera in 2009 (the 350th anniversary of Purcell's birth) were those staged by the De Nederlandse Opera
De Nederlandse Opera
De Nederlandse Opera , in Amsterdam, is a Dutch opera company based in Amsterdam, Netherlands. Its present home base is the Het Muziektheater, a modern building designed by Cees Dam which opened in 1986....
, the Royal Opera, London
Royal Opera, London
The Royal Opera is an opera company based in central London, resident at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden. Along with the English National Opera, it is one of the two principal opera companies in London. Founded in 1946 as the Covent Garden Opera Company, it was known by that title until 1968...
, the Divertimento Baroque Opera Company, and Glimmerglass Opera
Glimmerglass Opera
Glimmerglass Festival is an opera company which was founded in 1975 by Peter Macris and presents an annual season of operas at the Alice Busch Opera Theater on Otsego Lake eight miles north of Cooperstown, New York, United States.The summer-only season usually consists of four operas performed in...
in Cooperstown, New York
Cooperstown, New York
Cooperstown is a village in Otsego County, New York, USA. It is located in the Town of Otsego. The population was estimated to be 1,852 at the 2010 census.The Village of Cooperstown is the county seat of Otsego County, New York...
. The Royal Opera production, which featured contemporary dance by Wayne McGregor Random Dance and animated effects by Mark Hatchard
Mark Hatchard
Mark Hatchard is a director of the Hotbox Studios animation and design company and is involved with the contemporary arts and music festival group, Festival Republic, through Hotbox Studios' sister company Hotbox Events...
of Hotbox Studios and Hotbox Events
Hotbox Events
Hotbox Events is a company that recruits and manages staff and volunteers for UK festivals such as the Leeds Festival, Reading Festival, Latitude Festival and The Big Chill...
, formed part of a double bill with Handel's Acis and Galatea.
Adaptations
A version of the opera adapted to modern danceModern dance
Modern dance is a dance form developed in the early 20th century. Although the term Modern dance has also been applied to a category of 20th Century ballroom dances, Modern dance as a term usually refers to 20th century concert dance.-Intro:...
was choreographed by the American Mark Morris
Mark Morris
Mark William Morris is an American dancer, choreographer and director whose work is acclaimed for its craftsmanship, ingenuity, humor, and at times eclectic musical accompaniments...
, who originally danced both the roles of Dido and the Sorceress. It premiered on 11 March 1989 at the Théâtre Varia in Brussels
Brussels
Brussels , officially the Brussels Region or Brussels-Capital Region , is the capital of Belgium and the de facto capital of the European Union...
. It has since been performed many times and was filmed in 1995 by Canadian director Barbara Willis Sweete, with Morris in the roles of Dido and the Sorceress. Another dance version, choreographed by Sasha Waltz
Sasha Waltz
Sasha Alexandra Waltz is a German choreographer, dancer and leader of the dance company Sasha Waltz and Guests.- Biography :...
, premiered at the Staatsoper Unter den Linden in Berlin on 29 January 2005 and opened with the dancers performing underwater in an enormous tank. The production was subsequently seen at the Grand Théâtre in Luxembourg
Luxembourg
Luxembourg , officially the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg , is a landlocked country in western Europe, bordered by Belgium, France, and Germany. It has two principal regions: the Oesling in the North as part of the Ardennes massif, and the Gutland in the south...
, Opéra national de Montpellier
Opéra national de Montpellier
The Opéra national de Montpellier Languedoc-Roussillon is an opera company located in the Place de la Comédie in Montpellier, France. The company was established in 1755 and was granted the status of "National Opera" in 2002 by the French Ministry of Culture....
, and Sadler's Wells Theatre
Sadler's Wells Theatre
Sadler's Wells Theatre is a performing arts venue located in Rosebery Avenue, Clerkenwell in the London Borough of Islington. The present day theatre is the sixth on the site since 1683. It consists of two performance spaces: a 1,500 seat main auditorium and the Lilian Baylis Studio, with extensive...
in London. In both the Morris and the Waltz adaptations, the characters are each portrayed by both a singer and a dancer, with the dancers onstage and the singers performing from the side of the stage or the orchestra pit.
Roles
| Role | Voice type Voice type A voice type is a particular kind of human singing voice perceived as having certain identifying qualities or characteristics. Voice classification is the process by which human voices are evaluated and are thereby designated into voice types... |
|
|---|---|---|
| Dido (also known as Elissa), Queen of Carthage | high mezzo-soprano Mezzo-soprano A mezzo-soprano is a type of classical female singing voice whose range lies between the soprano and the contralto singing voices, usually extending from the A below middle C to the A two octaves above... or soprano Soprano A soprano is a voice type with a vocal range from approximately middle C to "high A" in choral music, or to "soprano C" or higher in operatic music. In four-part chorale style harmony, the soprano takes the highest part, which usually encompasses the melody... |
|
| Belinda, Dido's sister and handmaid Handmaiden A handmaiden is a female attendant, assistant, domestic worker , or slave.-Religion:Norse goddesses had handmaidens, . The biblical Mary referred to herself as "the handmaid of the Lord" in acceptance of becoming pregnant by the Holy Ghost.A man might use a handmaiden as a concubine to bear his... |
light soprano Soprano A soprano is a voice type with a vocal range from approximately middle C to "high A" in choral music, or to "soprano C" or higher in operatic music. In four-part chorale style harmony, the soprano takes the highest part, which usually encompasses the melody... |
|
| Second Woman, Another Handmaiden | mezzo-soprano Mezzo-soprano A mezzo-soprano is a type of classical female singing voice whose range lies between the soprano and the contralto singing voices, usually extending from the A below middle C to the A two octaves above... or soprano |
|
| Aeneas, Trojan Prince | tenor Tenor The tenor is a type of male singing voice and is the highest male voice within the modal register. The typical tenor voice lies between C3, the C one octave below middle C, to the A above middle C in choral music, and up to high C in solo work. The low extreme for tenors is roughly B2... or baritone Baritone Baritone is a type of male singing voice that lies between the bass and tenor voices. It is the most common male voice. Originally from the Greek , meaning deep sounding, music for this voice is typically written in the range from the second F below middle C to the F above middle C Baritone (or... |
|
| Sorceress/Sorcerer | mezzo-soprano Mezzo-soprano A mezzo-soprano is a type of classical female singing voice whose range lies between the soprano and the contralto singing voices, usually extending from the A below middle C to the A two octaves above... , contralto Contralto Contralto is the deepest female classical singing voice, with the lowest tessitura, falling between tenor and mezzo-soprano. It typically ranges between the F below middle C to the second G above middle C , although at the extremes some voices can reach the E below middle C or the second B above... , countertenor Countertenor A countertenor is a male singing voice whose vocal range is equivalent to that of a contralto, mezzo-soprano, or a soprano, usually through use of falsetto, or far more rarely than normal, modal voice. A pre-pubescent male who has this ability is called a treble... or bass Bass (voice type) A bass is a type of male singing voice and possesses the lowest vocal range of all voice types. According to The New Grove Dictionary of Opera, a bass is typically classified as having a range extending from around the second E below middle C to the E above middle C... |
|
| First Witch/Enchantress | mezzo-soprano | |
| Second Witch/Enchantress | mezzo-soprano | |
| Spirit, in form of Mercury Mercury (mythology) Mercury was a messenger who wore winged sandals, and a god of trade, the son of Maia Maiestas and Jupiter in Roman mythology. His name is related to the Latin word merx , mercari , and merces... |
soprano or countertenor | |
| First Sailor | tenor | |
| Chorus, SATB SATB In music, SATB is an initialism for soprano, alto, tenor, bass, defining the voices required by a chorus or choir to perform a particular musical work... : all members at one point or another represent courtiers, witches, cupids, and sailors. |
||
Act 1
Dido's courtThe opera opens with Dido in her court with her attendants. Belinda is trying to cheer up Dido, but Dido is full of sorrow, saying 'Peace and I are strangers grown'. Belinda believes the source of this grief to be the Trojan Aeneas, and suggests that Carthage's troubles could be resolved by a marriage between the two. Dido and Belinda talk for a time—Dido fears that her love will make her a weak monarch, but Belinda and the Second Woman reassure her that "The hero loves as well." Aeneas enters the court, and is at first received coldly by Dido, but she eventually accepts his proposal of marriage.
Act 2
Scene 1: The cave of the SorceressThe Sorceress/Sorcerer is plotting the destruction of Carthage and its queen, and calls in her companions to help her in her evil plans. She plans to send her "trusted elf" disguised as Mercury, someone to whom Aeneas will surely listen, to tempt him to leave Dido and sail to Italy. This would leave Dido heartbroken, and she would surely die. The chorus join in with terrible laughter, and the Enchantresses decide to conjure up a storm to make Dido and her train leave the grove and return to the palace. When the spell is prepared, the witches vanish in a thunderclap.
Scene 2: A grove during the middle of a hunt
Dido and Aeneas are accompanied by their train. They stop at the grove to take in its beauty. A lot of action is going on, with attendants carrying goods from the hunt and a picnic possibly taking place, and Dido and Aeneas are together within the activity. This is all stopped when Dido hears distant thunder, prompting Belinda to tell the servants to prepare for a return to shelter as soon as possible. As every other character leaves the stage, Aeneas is stopped by the Sorceress's elf, who is disguised as Mercury. This pretend Mercury brings the command of Jove that Aeneas is to wait no longer in beginning his task of creating a new Troy on Latin soil. Aeneas consents to the wishes of what he believes are the gods, but is heart-broken that he will have to leave Dido. He then goes off-stage to prepare for his departure from Carthage.
Act 3
The harbour at CarthagePreparations are being made for the departure of the Trojan fleet. The sailors sing a song, which is followed shortly by the Sorceress and her companions' sudden appearance. The group is pleased at how well their plan has worked, and the Sorceress sings a solo describing her further plans for the destruction of Aeneas "on the ocean". All the characters begin to clear the stage after a dance in three sections, and then disperse.
The palace
Dido and Belinda enter, shocked at Aeneas’ disappearance. Dido is distraught and Belinda comforts her. Suddenly Aeneas returns, but Dido is full of fear before Aeneas speaks, and his words only serve to confirm her suspicions. She derides his reasons for leaving, and even when Aeneas says he will defy the gods and not leave Carthage, Dido rejects him for having once thought of leaving her. After Dido forces Aeneas to leave, she states that "Death must come when he is gone." The opera and Dido's life both slowly come to a conclusion, as the Queen of Carthage sings her last aria, "When I am laid in Earth"
Dido's lament
"Dido's Lament" is the commonly-used name for the noted aria, "When I am laid in earth", from the opera, Dido and Aeneas, by Henry Purcell ....
, also known as "Dido's Lament." The chorus and orchestra then conclude the opera once Dido is dead by ordering the "cupids to scatter roses on her tomb, soft and gentle as her heart. Keep here your watch, and never never never part."
Recordings
The first complete recording of the opera was made by Decca RecordsDecca Records
Decca Records began as a British record label established in 1929 by Edward Lewis. Its U.S. label was established in late 1934; however, owing to World War II, the link with the British company was broken for several decades....
in 1935 with Nancy Evans
Nancy Evans
Nancy Evans OBE was an English mezzo-soprano who had a notable career as a concert and opera singer. She is particularly associated with Benjamin Britten who wrote his song cycle, A Charm of Lullabies, and the role of Nancy in his opera Albert Herring for her.-Biography:Evans was born in Liverpool...
as Dido and Roy Henderson as Aeneas, followed in 1945 by HMV's release with Joan Hammond
Joan Hammond
Dame Joan Hilda Hood Hammond, DBE, CMG was an Australian operatic soprano, singing coach and champion golfer.- Early life :...
and Dennis Noble
Dennis Noble
Dennis Noble was a noted British baritone and teacher. He appeared in opera, oratorio, musical comedy and song, from the First World War through to the late 1950s. He was renowned for his enunciation and diction, and for the metallic timbre of his voice...
. Kirsten Flagstad
Kirsten Flagstad
Kirsten Målfrid Flagstad was a Norwegian opera singer and a highly regarded Wagnerian soprano...
, who had sung the role at the Mermaid Theatre
Mermaid Theatre
The Mermaid Theatre was a theatre at Puddle Dock, in Blackfriars, in the City of London and the first built there since the time of Shakespeare...
in London, recorded it in 1951 for EMI
EMI
The EMI Group, also known as EMI Music or simply EMI, is a multinational music company headquartered in London, United Kingdom. It is the fourth-largest business group and family of record labels in the recording industry and one of the "big four" record companies. EMI Group also has a major...
with Thomas Hemsley
Thomas Hemsley
Thomas Jeffrey Hemsley, CBE is an English baritone. He made his debut in 1951 as Purcell's Aeneas at the Mermaid Theatre, London, and debuted at Glyndebourne in 1953....
as Aeneas. Dido and Aeneas has been recorded many times since the 1960s with Dido sung by mezzo-soprano
Mezzo-soprano
A mezzo-soprano is a type of classical female singing voice whose range lies between the soprano and the contralto singing voices, usually extending from the A below middle C to the A two octaves above...
s such as Janet Baker
Janet Baker
Dame Janet Abbott Baker, CH, DBE, FRSA is an English mezzo-soprano best known as an opera, concert, and lieder singer.She was particularly closely associated with baroque and early Italian opera and the works of Benjamin Britten...
(1961), Victoria de los Ángeles
Victoria de los Ángeles
Victoria de los Ángeles was a Spanish Catalan operatic soprano and recitalist whose career began in the early 1940s and reached its height in the years from the mid-1950s to the mid-1960s. Her obituary in The Times noted that she must be counted “among the finest singers of the second half...
(1965), Tatiana Troyanos
Tatiana Troyanos
Tatiana Troyanos was an American mezzo-soprano of Greek and German descent.-Early life:...
(1968), Teresa Berganza
Teresa Berganza
Teresa Berganza, born on March 16, 1935), is a Spanish mezzo-soprano. She is most closely associated with the roles of Rossini, Mozart, and Bizet. She is admired for her technical virtuosity, musical intelligence and beguiling stage presence.- Biography :...
(1986), Anne Sofie von Otter (1989) and Susan Graham
Susan Graham
Susan Graham is an American mezzo-soprano.Raised in Midland, Texas, she is a graduate of Texas Tech University and the Manhattan School of Music. She studied the piano for 13 years...
(2003). In addition to Joan Hammond and Kirsten Flagstad, soprano
Soprano
A soprano is a voice type with a vocal range from approximately middle C to "high A" in choral music, or to "soprano C" or higher in operatic music. In four-part chorale style harmony, the soprano takes the highest part, which usually encompasses the melody...
s who have recorded the role include Emma Kirkby
Emma Kirkby
Dame Carolyn Emma Kirkby, DBE is an English soprano singer and one of the world's most renowned early music specialists. She attended Sherborne School For Girls in Dorset and was a classics student at Somerville College, Oxford, and an English teacher before developing a career as a soloist...
(1981), Jessye Norman
Jessye Norman
Jessye Norman is an American opera singer. Norman is a well-known contemporary opera singer and recitalist, and is one of the highest paid performers in classical music...
(1986), Catherine Bott
Catherine Bott
Catherine Bott is a British soprano and a baroque specialist.Following her studies at The King's High School For Girls, and Guildhall School of Music and Drama, with Arthur Reckless, she began her career as a member of the English baroque-jazz crossover group, The Swingle Singers...
(1992), and Lynne Dawson
Lynne Dawson
Lynne Dawson is an English soprano. She came to great prominence through her performance as a soloist in Libera me from Verdi’s Requiem with the BBC Singers at Princess Diana’s funeral in September 1997...
(1998).
Beginning with Andrew Parrott
Andrew Parrott
Andrew Parrott is a British conductor, perhaps best known for his pioneering historically informed performances of pre-classical music. He conducts a wide range of repertoire, including contemporary music. He conducted the premiere of Judith Weir's A Night at the Chinese Opera...
's 1981 recording for Chandos
Chandos Records
Chandos Records is an independent classical music recording company based in Colchester, Essex, in the United Kingdom, founded in 1979 by Brian Couzens.- Background :...
with the Taverner Consort and Players
Taverner Consort and Players
Taverner Consort and Players is a period instrument ensemble: baroque orchestra , vocal consort and Choir, named after the 16th century English composer John Taverner....
, there was an increasing preference for a more genuine period sound
Historically informed performance
Historically informed performance is an approach in the performance of music and theater. Within this approach, the performance adheres to state-of-the-art knowledge of the aesthetic criteria of the period in which the music or theatre work was conceived...
. Further recordings by conductors and ensembles using this approach include those by Christopher Hogwood
Christopher Hogwood
Christopher Jarvis Haley Hogwood CBE, MA , HonMusD , born 10 September 1941, Nottingham, is an English conductor, harpsichordist, writer and musicologist, well known as the founder of the Academy of Ancient Music.-Biography:...
and The Academy of Ancient Music, William Christie
William Christie (musician)
William Lincoln Christie is an American-born French conductor and harpsichordist. He is noted as a specialist in baroque repertoire and as the founder of the ensemble Les Arts Florissants....
and Les Arts Florissants
Les Arts Florissants (ensemble)
Les Arts Florissants is a Baroque musical ensemble in residence at the Théâtre de Caen in Caen, France. The organization was founded by conductor William Christie in 1979. The ensemble derives its name from the 1685 opera by Marc-Antoine Charpentier. The organization consists of a chamber orchestra...
(1986); Trevor Pinnock
Trevor Pinnock
Trevor David Pinnock CBE is an English conductor, harpsichordist, and occasional organist and pianist.He is best known for his association with the period-performance orchestra The English Concert which he helped found and directed from the keyboard for over 30 years in baroque and early classical...
and The English Concert
The English Concert
The English Concert is a baroque orchestra playing on period instruments based in London. Founded in 1972 and directed from the harpsichord by Trevor Pinnock for 30 years, it is now directed by harpsichordist Harry Bicket...
(1989); René Jacobs and the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment
Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment
The Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment is a British period instrument orchestra. The OAE is a resident orchestra of the Southbank Centre, London, associate orchestra at Glyndebourne Festival Opera and has its headquarters at Kings Place...
(1998); Emmanuelle Haïm
Emmanuelle Haïm
Emmanuelle Haïm is a French harpsichordist and conductor with a particular interest in early music and Baroque music....
and Le Concert d'Astrée (2003); and Predrag Gosta
Predrag Gosta
Predrag Gosta is a Serbian-American conductor and harpsichordist.. He is the Artistic Director of an early music ensemble, baroque orchestra and choir New Trinity Baroque, based in Atlanta, United States, the Music Director and conductor of the Gwinnett Ballet Theatre in Snellville , and the...
and New Trinity Baroque
New Trinity Baroque
New Trinity Baroque is an orchestra with an associated chamber choir, specialised in baroque music played on period instruments. It was founded in 1998 in London but is now based in Atlanta, USA...
(2004). The Haïm recording with Susan Graham
Susan Graham
Susan Graham is an American mezzo-soprano.Raised in Midland, Texas, she is a graduate of Texas Tech University and the Manhattan School of Music. She studied the piano for 13 years...
as Dido and Ian Bostridge
Ian Bostridge
Ian Bostridge CBE is an English tenor, well known for his performances as an opera singer and as a song recitalist.-Early life and education:...
as Aeneas was nominated for the Best Opera Recording
Grammy Award for Best Opera Recording
The Grammy Award for Best Opera Recording has been awarded since 1961. The award was originally titled Best Classical Opera Production. The current title has been used since 1962....
in the 2005 Grammy Award
Grammy Award
A Grammy Award — or Grammy — is an accolade by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences of the United States to recognize outstanding achievement in the music industry...
s.
Several performances of the opera have been filmed and are available on DVD, most recently the 2008 performance at the Opéra-Comique
Opéra-Comique
The Opéra-Comique is a Parisian opera company, which was founded around 1714 by some of the popular theatres of the Parisian fairs. In 1762 the company was merged with, and for a time took the name of its chief rival the Comédie-Italienne at the Hôtel de Bourgogne, and was also called the...
in Paris conducted by William Christie and directed by Deborah Warner
Deborah Warner
Deborah Warner CBE is a British director of theatre and opera known for her interpretations of the works of Shakespeare, Bertolt Brecht, Georg Büchner, and Henrik Ibsen, and for her long-term working relationship with the Irish actress Fiona Shaw.-Early years:Warner was born in Oxfordshire,...
(FRA Musica FRA001) and the 2009 performance at London's Royal Opera House
Royal Opera House
The Royal Opera House is an opera house and major performing arts venue in Covent Garden, central London. The large building is often referred to as simply "Covent Garden", after a previous use of the site of the opera house's original construction in 1732. It is the home of The Royal Opera, The...
conducted by Christopher Hogwood
Christopher Hogwood
Christopher Jarvis Haley Hogwood CBE, MA , HonMusD , born 10 September 1941, Nottingham, is an English conductor, harpsichordist, writer and musicologist, well known as the founder of the Academy of Ancient Music.-Biography:...
and directed by Wayne McGregor
Wayne McGregor
Wayne McGregor CBE is a British choreographer of contemporary modern dance. His work is highly distinctive in its vocabulary of movement, for its integration of dance with film and visual art, and for his active interest and incorporation of computer technology and biological science...
(OpusArte OA1018D). The Mark Morris dance version of the opera is also preserved on DVD (recorded 1995, Image Entertainment 8741) as is the dance version by Sasha Waltz (recorded 2005, Arthaus Musik 101311)
External links
- Analysis in French
- Libretto at Stanford University
- Free excerpts from a recording by the New Trinity BaroqueNew Trinity BaroqueNew Trinity Baroque is an orchestra with an associated chamber choir, specialised in baroque music played on period instruments. It was founded in 1998 in London but is now based in Atlanta, USA...
orchestra - Internet Movie Database listing
- BBC Radio 4 programme about "Dido's Lament"
- The Purcell Society