Dido and Aeneas

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Work data
Title: Dido and Aeneas
Original title: Dido and Aeneas
Original language: English
Music: Henry Purcell
Libretto : Nahum Tate
Premiere: 1688 or 1689
Place of premiere: Chelsea (London)
Playing time: Around 1 hour
Place and time of the action: Carthage , after the end of the Trojan War
people

Dido and Aeneas is an opera in three acts by Henry Purcell . The libretto was written by Nahum Tate based on the epic Aeneid by 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 .

first act

Location: In Dido's palace

Dido is sad and is cheered up by her confidante Belinda. Belinda guesses the reason: Dido fell in love with Aeneas , who ended up on the Carthaginian coast on his flight from the destroyed Troy and who, as Dido's guest, tells of his battles. She is encouraged by her entourage to give free rein to her inclination, for Aeneas loves her too. After Aeneas begs her, she finally gives in.

Second act

Location: In a cave

The sorceress has rallied with the witches to bring misery to her enemy Dido and to destroy Carthage . A ghost in the form of Mercury is said to appear to Aeneas and remind him of his duty to seek the shores of Italy. He is supposed to set off with his fleet on the same day. But first, the witches want to spoil the fun of the hunting party in which Dido and Aeneas are.

Audio sample: "Stay, Prince and hear"

Location: In a grove

After the hunt, Dido's women dance and sing to entertain Aeneas. They tell the story of Actaeon , who watched the goddess Diana bathing and, as punishment, was turned into a deer and torn to pieces by his own dogs. A thunderstorm is approaching and forces society to flee to the city. Aeneas is stopped by the spirit in the form of Mercury , who asks him in the name of Jupiter to no longer waste his time on love, but to sail. Aeneas promises to obey, but does not know how to explain it to Dido.

Third act

Location: At the ships

While the sailors prepare the ships, the sorceress is happy about the successful conspiracy.

Location: in the palace

Aeneas comes to Dido to say goodbye. She accuses him of only crying crocodile tears. He changes his mind, but Dido sends him away. Because he only had the thought of leaving her, nothing can change his remorse either. When Aeneas has left, Dido feels that she can no longer live and commits suicide. Gods of love sprinkle their grave with roses.

Sequence of musical numbers

according to the Zimmerman directory

  • 1) Overture
  • 1st act
    • 2a) Aria , "Shake the cloud from off your brow"
    • 2b) Chorus, "Banish sorrow, banish care"
    • 3) Aria and Ritornello , "Ah! Belinda, I am prest with torment"
    • 4) Duet (dialogue), "Grief increases by concealing"
    • 5) Chorus, "When monarchs unite"
    • 6) Trio (dialogue), "Whence could so much virtue spring?"
    • 7) Duet and Chorus, "Fear No Danger"
    • 8) Trio (dialogue), "See, your royal guest appears"
    • 9) Chorus (dialogue), Cupid only throws the dart "
    • 10) Aria, "If not for mine"
    • 11) Prelude and Aria, "Pursue thy conquest, love"
    • 12) Chorus, "To the hills and the vales"
    • 13) Dance - The triumphing dance
  • 2nd act
    • 14) Prelude and Aria, "Wayward sisters"
    • 15) Chorus, "Harm's our delight"
    • 16) Aria, "The queen of Carthage, whom we hate"
    • 17-20) Chorus and Dialogue, "Ho ho ho!"
    • 21) Chorus, "In our deep vaulted cell"
    • 22) "Echo dance of the furies"
    • 23) Ritornello
    • 24a - b) Aria and Chorus, "Thanks to these lonesome vales"
    • 24c) Dance - Gittar ground
    • 25a) Aria, "Often she visits this lone mountain"
    • 25b) Ritornello, "A Dance to Entertain Aeneas by Dido's Women"
    • 26) Aria, "Behold, upon my bended spear"
    • 27) Aria and Chorus, "Haste, haste to town"
    • 28) Duet (dialogue), "Stay, Prince"
  • 3rd act
    • 29) Prelude and Aria, "Come away, fellow sailors"
    • 30) Dance - The sailor's dance
    • 31) Trio (dialogue), "See the flags and the streamers curling"
    • 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"

Origin and reception

The exact circumstances in which this work was created are not known. The first verifiable performance took place in a girls' boarding school in Chelsea in 1688 or 1689 , but it is unlikely that Purcell wrote a work of this importance specifically for such an occasion. The work was probably written a few years earlier for a performance at the English court.

The librettist Nahum Tate took the material from the Aeneid of Virgil . While the original version of the libretto has survived, Purcell's music has only come down to us in later copies. The music of the prologue is completely lost, probably because the allusion to current politics in it no longer fitted in later performances.

In the incomplete form that has been handed down to us today, the entire opera only takes about an hour. It is one of the most important musical and dramatic works of the Baroque and is considered by some to be Purcell's only real opera. The most famous piece is probably Dido's lament “ When I am laid in earth ”, an aria over a lamento - Basso ostinato .

The opera is musically remarkable because it deviates from the scheme of the opera seria , which was widespread at the time , in which there are almost no independent arias. The choir also plays an unusually important role.

There is a work that is comparable in many respects with John Blows Venus and Adonis - a masque (also known as an opera) that has amazing parallels in terms of scope, cast and plot elements. There is much to suggest that these two works were created with a short time lag and with a conscious relationship to one another.

literature

  • William H. Cummings: Purcell. S. Low, Marston, Searle & Revington, London 1881.
  • Edward J. Dent: Foundations of the English Opera. Cambridge UP, Cambridge 1928.
  • Mark Goldie: The Earliest Notice of Purcell's Dido and Aeneas. In: Early Music 20 (1992), 392-400.
  • Ellen T. Harris: Recitative and Aria in Dido and Aeneas. In: Studies in the History of Music 2 (1987).
  • Ellen T. Harris: Henry Purcell's Dido and Aeneas. Clarendon Press, Oxford 1987 [Repr. kt. 1989].
  • Peter Holman: Henry Purcell. OUP, Oxford, 1994.
  • Robert Etheridge Moore: Dido and Aeneas and Later Opera. In: Robert Etheridge Moore (Ed.): Henry Purcell and the Restoration Theater. Heinemann, London a. a. 1961, pp. 41-46. - [Again in:] Henry Purcell: Dido and Aeneas. To Opera. Ed. by Curtis Price. London: Norton 1986, pp. 220-223.
  • Curtis A. Price: Henry Purcell and the London Stage. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge 1984.
  • Curtis A. Price (Ed.): Purcell Studies. CUP, Cambridge 1995.
  • Ulrich Schreiber: Half operas: a whole thing? Henry Purcell and the Beginnings of English Opera. In: Neue Zeitschrift für Musik 148 (1987), pp. 4-7.
  • Ludwig Ernst Weinitzschke: Dido and Aeneas by Henry Purcell. Lienau, Berlin 1974.
  • Franklin Bersher Zimmerman: Henry Purcell (1659-1695). His Life and Times. MacMillan, London 1967. 2nd rev. University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia 1983.

Discography (selection)

  • Kirsten Flagstad (Dido), Elisabeth Schwarzkopf (Bel, 2nd Lady , Spir), Thomas Hemsley (Aen), Arda Mandikian (Sorc), Eilidh McNab ( 1st Lady ), Sheila Rex (1st Witch), Anna Pollak (2nd Witch), David Lloyd (Sail) - The Mermaid Singers and Orchestra - Geraint Jones - Aufn. 10/1952, (P) 1952, EMI Références CDH 7610062
  • Janet Baker (Dido), P. Clark (Bel), R. Herincx (Aen), M. Sinclair (Sorc), ... - St. Anthony Singers, English Chamber Orchestra - Anthony Lewis - (P) 1962, L ' Oiseau Lyre SOL 60047
  • Claire Watson (Dido), Jeannette Sinclair (Bel), Peter Pears (Aen), Arda Mandikian (Sorc), Patricia Clark (2nd Wom), Jean Allister, Rosemary Philips (Witches) John Hahessy (Spir), Michael Ronayne (Sail) - Purcell Singers, English Opera Group Orchestra - Benjamin Britten - Aufn. Sept 1959, CD (P) 1999, BBC Music BBCB 8003-2
  • Tatiana Troyanos (Dido), Sheila Armstrong (Bel), Barry McDaniel (Aen), Patricia Johnson (Sorc), Margaret Baker (1st Witch), Margaret Lensky (2nd Witch), Paul Esswood (Spir), Nigel Rogers (Sail) - Monteverdi Choir Hamburg , Chamber Orchestra of the NDR - Charles Mackerras - recording. 10/1967, (P) 1968, DG 447 148-2
  • Guillemette Laurens (Dido), Jill Feldman (Bel), Philippe Cantor (Aen), Dominique Visse (Sorc), Agnès Mellon (2nd Wom, 1st Witch), Barbara Borden (2nd Witch), Etienne Lestringant (Spir), Michel Laplénie ( Sail) - Les Arts Florissants - William Christie - rec. 7/1985, (P) 1986, harmonia mundi France HMC 905173
  • Teresa Berganza (Dido), Danielle Borst (Bel), Per-Arne Wahlgren (Aen), Glenys Linos (Sorc), Françoise Destembert (2nd Wom), Tiziana Sojat (1st Witch, Spir), Alexandra Papadjikiakou (2nd Witch), Reinaldo Macias (Sail) - Chœur du Théâtre Municipal de Lausanne, Ensemble Instrumental de Lausanne - Michel Corboz - recording. 11/1985, (P) 1986, Erato ECD 88244
  • Anne Sofie von Otter (Dido), Lynne Dawson (Bel), Stephen Varcoe (Aen), Nigel Rogers, Elisabeth Priday, Carol Hall, Sarah Leonard - Choir of the English Concert, The English Concert - Trevor Pinnock - Aufn. 7/1988, (P) 1989, DG Archiv 4276242
  • Nicola Wemyss (Dido), Francine van der Heijden (Bel), Matthew Baker (Aen), Helene Rasker (Sorc), Penni Clarke (2nd Wom), Maaike Porthuuis (1st Witch), Yong-Hee Kim (2nd Witch), Rowena Simpson (Spir), Richard Zook (Sail) - Musica ad Rhenum - Jed Wentz - Aufn. Sept. 2004, (P) 2004, Brilliant Classics 92538

Web links