Name: Dido and Aeneas
Start: 2019-07-08T00:00:00.000Z
End: 2019-07-16T00:00:00.000Z
Location: Roman Thermae

Organization

Conductor

Stefan Boyadzhiev

Assistant Director

Dimitar Levicharov

Soprano

Daniela Dimova

Dido

Tenor

Svilen Nikolov

Aeneas

Maria Pavlova

Belinda

Mezzo-soprano

Faith Zhelezova

Second witch

Blagovesta Stateva

Second woman

Singer

Hristo Ganevski

MATROS

Lilyana Kondova

Spirit

Pianist

Janet Benun

Set designer

Andrea Paraskeva

State Opera Varna

Others

Choir of the Varna State Opera

Orchestra

Orchestra of the Varna State Opera

Ballet

Varna State Opera

Dido and Aeneas

Varna

Bulgaria

Roman Thermae

Dido and Aeneas Purcell

Public

Approved

One of the greatest ancient Greek and Roman myths tells of Queen Dido, daughter of a Phoenician king and widow of a priest, who founded and skillfully managed the wealthy city of Carthage. The love between her and the Trojan war hero Aeneas makes her happy. However, God's intervention led Aeneas to prefer debt to love and to march to fulfill the prophecy, creating the dynasty of Roman kings and in turn laying the foundations of another great city - Rome. Dido can't stand parting with his beloved and commits suicide. On his deathbed he foretells the future enmity between Rome and Carthage, which led to the Punic wars.

 
Written in 1689 by Henry Purcell (1659 - 1695), based on the libretto by Neyum Tate on motifs from Virgil's Aeneid, the opera was staged only once in the author's lifetime. It took a long time until 1895, when the London premiere of "Dido and Aeneas" attracted the attention of connoisseurs. Purcell masterfully combines elements of French and Italian baroque music with motifs from Scottish folklore, while creating a sophisticated, purely English baroque style. An astonishing example of a real opera in a country where the national opera has not yet been established, Purcell's Dido and Aeneas is considered the first English opera, which, according to many critics, is not inferior in its artistic perfection to the best Italian samples.


Tsveta Christopher - director


In Dido and Aeneas, like many other myths, there is the Above - the world of the gods and the Down - the underworld, the world of suffering, the shadows, the world of demons and the dead. And the earth - or as it is called in the Bulgarian epic, the white world. We have the most difficult task. We are the guardians of balance and harmony between the other two worlds. The balance between Up and Down! One person can be bad for someone, for another - very good, depending on at what point in his life he was met. Therefore, although according to the libretto and Virgil's "Aeneid" Dido commits suicide, evil will die with her (the Sorceress). The archmage will be a mirror image of Dido, a shadow adopted σάρκα (from the city of flesh) - a life born of fears, insecurities and negative thoughts of Dido. Leading a constant struggle, the two forces, humble and equal in death, merge and cease their old existence. With death comes liberation from the dualistic perception of man-made reality, and heroes who have transcended the notions of good and evil, stripped of their old shells, will be ready for a life bathed in the colors of the rainbow. Ritual of balance and transformation into a new form of life.

English

Dido and Aeneas by Purcell, Tue 16 Jul 2019, From (2019/2019), Conductor Stefan Boyadzhiev, Roman Thermae, Varna, Bulgaria

Performance credits (Cast & Crew )

Cast

Crew

Ensemble

Programme, About & Synopsis

Photos

Further reading

Performance Dates & Venues

Venues