Name: Dido and Aeneas
Start: 2009-03-31T00:00:00.000Z
End: 2009-04-20T00:00:00.000Z
Location: Royal Opera House

Organization

Soprano

Sarah Connolly

Dido

Lucy Crowe

Belinda

Tenor

Lucas Meachem

Aeneas

Mezzo-soprano

Sara Fulgoni

Sorceress

Iestyn Davies

Spirit

Ji-Min Park

First sailor

Eri Nakamura

First witch

Pumeza Matshikiza

Second witch

Anita Watson

Second woman

Conductor

Christopher Hogwood

Stage director

Wayne McGregor

Choreographer

Set designer

Hildegard Bechtler

Costume designer

Fotini Dimou

Lighting designer

Lucy Carter

Royal Opera House

Orchestra

Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment

Dido and Aeneas

London

United Kingdom

Dido and Æneas, Purcell's best loved and most frequently performed work today, is also England's oldest full opera. Many details of its history are unknown, and it went unstaged for two centuries before an 1895 production restored its renown. Choreographer and stage director Wayne McGregor, “the closest thing to a rock star that ballet can currently claim” (The New York Times), breathes new life into the poignant story—based on Virgil's Æneid—with heavily atmospheric lighting, shrewd design choices, and modern ballet flourishes.

Dido, Queen of Carthage, is in love with warrior Æneas, who has sought refuge at her court following the burning of Troy at the end of the Trojan War. When Æneas arrives and expresses his love for Dido, the queen gives in and admits that she loves him as well. The wicked Sorceress, however, has plans to destroy their burgeoning love, sending a minion disguised as Mercury to convince Æneas to abandon the queen. Torn between love and duty, he announces to Dido that he must leave her. Desolate at his departure, she prepares for her own death, begging her sister Belinda to “remember me, but forget my fate.” Her plaintive swan song, “When I am laid in earth”—famously known as “Dido’s Lament”—is an absolute showstopper, one of the most heartrending arias in opera.

Dido and Aeneas Purcell

Public

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