The composer, portrait by John Closterman, c. 1695
Librettist
Nahum Tate
Based on
Book IV of Virgil's Aeneid
Premiere
1689
Josias Priest's girls' school, London
Dido and Aeneas (Z. 626)[1] is an opera in a prologue and three acts, written by the English Baroque composer Henry Purcell with a libretto by Nahum Tate. The dates of the composition and first performance of the opera are uncertain. It was composed no later than July 1688,[2] and had been performed at Josias Priest's girls' school in London by the end of 1689.[3] Some scholars argue for a date of composition as early as 1683.[4][5] The story is based on Book IV of Virgil's Aeneid.[6] It recounts the love of Dido, Queen of Carthage, for the Trojan hero Aeneas, and her despair when he abandons her. A monumental work in Baroque opera, Dido and Aeneas is remembered as one of Purcell's foremost theatrical works.[6] It was also Purcell's only true opera, as well as his only all-sung dramatic work. One of the earliest known English operas, it owes much to John Blow's Venus and Adonis, both in structure and in overall effect.[6]
The influence of Cavalli's opera Didone is also apparent. Both works use the prologue/three acts format and there are similarities between, for instance, Mercury's solo in Didone and the solo "Come away fellow sailors" in Purcell's work.
^"Z" refers to the Zimmerman catalogue of Purcell's works by the American musicologist Franklin B. Zimmerman
^White, Bryan, 'Letter from Aleppo: dating the Chelsea School performance of Dido and Aeneas', 426
^White, Bryan, 'Letter from Aleppo: dating the Chelsea School performance of Dido and Aeneas', 417
^Pinnock, Andrew, 'Which Genial Day? More on the court origin of Purcell's Dido and Aeneas, with a shortlist of dates for its possible performance before King Charles II’, Early Music 43 (2015), 199–212
^Bruce Wood and Andrew Pinnock, "'Unscared by turning times'? The dating of Purcell's Dido and Aeneas,"
of Dido, Queen of Carthage, for the Trojan hero Aeneas, and her despair when he abandons her. A monumental work in Baroque opera, DidoandAeneas is remembered...
Ketterer, The perils of Dido: sorcery and melodrama in Vergil's Aeneid IV and Purcell's DidoandAeneas, 1992. R.H. Klausen, Aeneas und die Penaten, 1839...
In Greco-Roman mythology, Aeneas (/ɪˈniːəs/ ih-NEE-əs, Latin: [äe̯ˈneːäːs̠]; from Ancient Greek: Αἰνείας, romanized: Aineíās) was a Trojan hero, the son...
Italian-style recitative. Each work runs to less than one hour. At the time, DidoandAeneas never found its way to the theatre, though it appears to have been...
Aeneas' mother, with the intention of distracting Aeneas from his destiny of founding a city in Italy. Aeneas is inclined to return Dido's love, and during...
This is a discography of DidoandAeneas, an opera by Henry Purcell. The first known performance was at Josias Priest's girls' school in London in the...
Antony and Cleopatra were the prototypes and antitypes for Virgil's DidoandAeneas: Dido, ruler of the north African city of Carthage, tempts Aeneas, the...
Dido in DidoandAeneas (Hampton Court, 1995); Marie in Wozzeck (Metropolitan Opera, 1997); the title role in Fedora (Los Angeles Opera, 1997); and the...
weep full sore, and sheddeth tender tears. In Henry Purcell's 1688 opera DidoandAeneas, (librettist Nahum Tate), when Aeneas tells Dido he must abandon...
calling and withdraws in the forest to her first spouse, Sichaeus. The violent ending of DidoandAeneas' relationship, mythical founders of Carthage and Rome...
Festival, and in Aix-en-Provence. In 2006 she sang as Nerone in L'incoronazione di Poppea in Brussels and Berlin, then as Dido in DidoandAeneas with William...
in a ii-V-I turnaround in C major. See, for example, Henry Purcell's Dido & Aeneas. Examples of popular music songs featuring the augmented chord include...
series of Supernatural "Wayward Sister" (song), an aria from the opera DidoandAeneas, by Henry Purcell; see List of compositions by Henry Purcell Search...
Stay, Prince and hear Scene from Purcell's DidoandAeneas. The witches' messenger, in the form of Mercury himself, attempts to convince Aeneas to leave Carthage...
39 and Johann Baptist Wanhal's G minor symphony from before 1771. Arcangelo Corelli Christmas Concerto Henry Purcell "Dido's Lament" from Didoand Aeneas...
1994 she appeared with the ensemble as Dido in Purcell's DidoandAeneas, with Ben Parry (musician) as Aeneas. A reviewer of the recording noted her expressivity:...
series of Supernatural "Wayward Sister" (song), an aria from the opera DidoandAeneas, by Henry Purcell; see List of compositions by Henry Purcell This disambiguation...
instructions to the witches before a final dance and Macbeth's arrival. In Henry Purcell's opera DidoandAeneas with libretto by Nahum Tate, the Sorceress...
other works the Ave Maria by Pietro Mascagni and Mariae Wiegenlied by Max Reger. Dido (Purcell: DidoandAeneas) Contessa Almaviva (Mozart: Le nozze di Figaro)...
Finchley) Metropolitan Opera world première Henry Purcell DidoandAeneas (Sorceress, Dido) Gioachino Rossini Il barbiere di Siviglia (Rosina) Richard...
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