Dido and Aeneas
- Dido, Queen of Carthage ( soprano)
- Aeneas, Prince of Troy (baritone or tenor )
- Belinda, Dido's confidante (soprano )
- Second wife ( soprano)
- Sorceress (mezzo- soprano)
- A sailor (tenor )
- First Witch (mezzo- soprano)
- Second Witch (mezzo- soprano)
- Spirit ( soprano or countertenor )
- Chorus: wake of Dido. Witches. Sailors of Aeneas.
Dido and Aeneas is an opera in three acts by Henry Purcell. The libretto was written by Nahum Tate after the epic Aeneid of Virgil. The first performance took place in London in 1688 or 1689.
Action
The opera is set in Carthage, after the end of the Trojan War.
Act I
Location: In Dido's palace
Dido is exceeding sorrowful, and is encouraged by her confidante Belinda. Belinda guesses the reason: Dido fell in love with Aeneas, which it has slyly in his escape from the ruined Troy to the Carthaginian coast and told the guest as Dido beat of his battles. From its wake she is encouraged to let their passion run wild, because Aeneas loves them. After Aeneas begs her, she gives in at last.
Second Act
Location: In a cave
The sorceress has gathered with the witches to overthrow her enemy Dido into misfortune and destroy Carthage. A spirit in the form of Mercury to Aeneas appear and remind him of his duty to seek the shores of Italy. On the same day he should set sail with his fleet. But before the witches want the hunting party, in which Dido and Aeneas are, spoil the fun.
Location: In a grove
Dance after the hunt and sing Dido's women to entertain Aeneas. They tell the story of Actaeon, who was watching the goddess Diana bathing and transformed as a punishment into a deer and was torn apart by his own dogs. A storm is brewing and compels the company to flee the city. Aeneas is held up by the Spirit in the form of Mercury, who tells him in the name of Jupiter, to waste no more time with his love, but loszusegeln. Aeneas promises to obey, but do not know how to explain it Dido.
Act Three
Location: On the ships
While the sailors make the ships ready, says the sorceress about the successful conspiracy.
Location: in the palace
Aeneas comes to Dido, to say goodbye. They accused him cry only crocodile tears. He changes his mind, but Dido sends him away. Because he has only taken the idea to leave them, even his repentance can change anything. As Aeneas is gone, you feel Dido, that it can not go on living, and commits suicide. Dear gods sprinkle her grave with roses.
Sequence of musical numbers
After Zimmerman Directory
- 29) Prelude and Aria, " Come away, fellow sailors "
- 30) Dance - The sailor 's dance
- 31) Trio ( dialogue), "See the flags and streamers curling the "
- 32) Aria, "Our next motion"
- 33) Chorus " Destruction 's our delight"
- 34) Dance - The witches ' dance
- 35a) Aria, "Your counsel all is urg'd in vain"
- 35b ) Trio ( dialogue), " See, madam where the Prince appears"
- 36) Chorus " Great minds against Themselves conspire "
- 37) Aria, " Thy hand Belinda, darkness shades me"
- 38) Ground, Aria and ritornello, "When I am laid in earth"
- 39) chorus, " With drooping wings"
- 40) Epilogue, "All that we know the angels do above"
Creation and reception
The exact circumstances of the origin of this plant are not known. The first documented performance took place in 1688 or 1689 in a girls' boarding school in Chelsea instead, but it is considered unlikely that Purcell wrote a work of this importance especially for such an occasion. Probably the work was already several years earlier for a performance at the English court.
The librettist Nahum Tate took the fabric from the Aeneid of Virgil. While the original version of the libretto is received, the music of Purcell has survived only through later copies. The music of the prologue is entirely disappeared, probably because the allusion contained in it did not fit on the current policy in later performances.
The entire opera takes today handed, incomplete form only about an hour. It is one of the most important musical and dramatic works of the Baroque, and is regarded by some as Purcell's only true opera. The most famous piece is probably Dido's lament "When I am laid in earth", an aria Lamento - over a basso ostinato.
The opera is musically so remarkable because it differs from the then popular scheme of opera seria, where there are almost no independent arias. Even the choir comes to an unusually important role.
A similar in many respects work there with John Blows Venus and Adonis - a Masque ( also referred to as Opera ), which has striking parallels in scope, occupation and even plot elements. There are many indications that these two works were written in small time interval and with conscious relationship.