Most famous of all elements in the opera is Dido's lament, When I am laid in earth , with its descending ground bass borrowed from current Venetian practice. Keyword Search in Albums. Synopses of Opera Index of Operas by Composer. Naxos Records, a member of the Naxos Music Group. Follow Us. All rights reserved. He then goes off-stage to prepare for his departure from Carthage. Preparations are being made for the departure of the Trojan fleet.
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. Keep here your watch, and never never never part. Skip to main content. Search for:. This musician, who died at the age of 36, almost like Mozart, is an odd case.
Only Venus and Adonis ca. Purcell achieved a synthesis of all the influences of his time and condensed all the essential ingredients of the lyric genre into an extremely short opera. He served up the musical quintessence of passion by giving life for a very long time to the emblematic figure of the abandoned lover, Dido. It cannot be said that the birth of this masterpiece was awaited and celebrated appropriately, as it was given for the first time away from the most prominent London stages.
The performance had to be adapted to the necessary constraints imposed by a limited orchestra and a selection of amateur singers. We see a small instrumental ensemble, a limited number of soloists plus a few singers to form the chorus, and a few dancers for the interludes that remind us that the patron, Josias Priest, was a dance master, and that dance held a significant place in education at the time.
Purcell accepted all the constraints inherent in the request from his sponsor in order to transcend them by making them vastly more effective. The economy of resources became an extraordinary stimulus for his inspiration. He knew he would have to move away from the profusion of baroque opera, as he would not have the sumptuous sets or clever machinery that are its chief attractions.
All this meant that no other opera is as simple, as devoid of vocal effects as this astonishing masterpiece: Dido and Aeneas. In addition to simplicity, there was the need to seduce easily. The audience had to be charmed right from the start by the highly accessible music. The many dances, and the introduction of witches, completed the conquest of the boarding-school audience, combining entertainment with fantasy.
What is most remarkable for such an important work in the opera repertoire, is that so little about it is known. Moreover, the dates of composition and the first performance are uncertain. However, some scholars argue that the opera was composed and performed for the Royal Court of either James II or Charles II with a date as early as , and argue that the reference in the Prologue to the joy of a marriage between two monarchs is an allegorical one.
Main navigation. Scene 2 - The Grove Dido and Aeneas, accompanied by their court, are enjoying a day outdoors with a hunt and feasting.
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