Opera Purcell's Dido and Æneas

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Henry Purcell, Dido and Æneas
- Overture
- I: "Shake the Cloud from off your brow"
- I: "Ah Belinda, I am press'd with torment"
- I : "Grief increases by concealing"
- I: "When monarches unite, how happy their state"
- I: "Whence could so much virtue spring"
- I: "Fear no danger to ensue"
- I: "See our royal guest appears"
- I: "Cupid only throws the dart"
- I: "If not for mine, for Empire's sake"
- I: "Pursue thy conquest, Love"
- I: "To the hills and the vales"
- I: The triumphing Dance
- II, 1: Prelude for the Witches "Wayward sisters, you that fright"
- II, 1: "Harm's our delight"
- II, 1: "The Queen of Carthage"
- II, 1: "Ho! ho! ho!"
- II, 1: "But ere we this perform"
- II, 1: "In our deep vaulted cell"
- II, 1: Dance of the Furies
- II, 2: Ritornelle
- II, 2: "Thanks to these lonesome vales"
- II, 2: "Oft she visits the lone mountain"
- II, 2: "Behold upon my bending spear"
- II, 2: "Haste, haste to town"
- II, 2: "Stay Prince"
- III: "Come away"
- III: The Sailor's Dance
- III: "See, see the flags"
- III: "Our next motion"
- III: "Destruction's our deligth"
- III: The Witches' Dance
- III: "Your counsel all is urged in vain"
- III: "Great minds against themselves conspire"
- III: "Thy hand Belinda"
- III: "When I am laid in earth"
- III : "With drooping wings"

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Purcell's Dido and Æneas Christopher Hogwood, Wayne McGregor – Lucy Crowe (Belinda), Sarah Connolly (Dido) – Royal Opera House, Covent Garden

About

Dido and Æneas is Purcell's best loved and most frequently performed work today, it is also England's oldest full opera. In this production, the story based on Virgil's Æneid breathes new life thanks to the movements on stage and the settings.

Dido, Queen of Carthage, is in love with Æneas, who has sought refuge at her court following the burning of Troy at the end of the Trojan War. Out of loyalty to her dead husband and her country, she is unwilling to declare her love. Her maid Belinda urges her to tell Æneas her feelings and to be happy again in the aria "Shake the cloud from off your brow." When Æneas arrives and expresses his love for Dido, the queen gives way and admits that she loves him. Belinda leads the chorus in a celebration of the couple's betrothal.

But the Sorceress gathers all the evil creatures and the witches to draw up a plan to destruct the burgeoning love. One of the Sorceress's minion will go to Æneas disguised as Mercury in order to remind him of his duty and to tell him that he must leave the queen to found a new city in Italy. As the royal couple take a walk, a storm bursts and separates the two lovers. Æneas is visited by the counterfeit messenger of the gods and is told to leave Carthage. Being torn between his love and his duty, he announces to Dido that he must leave her. When she rejects him, Æneas decides to stay with her but it is too late and Dido dismisses him. She prepares for her own death, turning to Belinda again, begging her to remember her but to forget her tragic fate in the lament "When I am laid in earth."

Scottish choreographer Wayne McGregor's production of Dido and Æneas is a combination of ballet and opera, which reminds us of the original form of this work. The opera was written for Josiah Priest, a dance master who ran the Chelsea Boarding School for girls in London, where the premiere took place in 1689, with the residents executing the dance movements. In each instrumental intermezzo, the choreography emphasize the emotions of the characters and illustrate the story. Dancers also become part of the chorus at some points, blending movements with voices and instruments.

Photo: Bill Cooper

For further information: watch Wayne Mc Gregor's interview, click here!

Wayne McGregor | Choreographer, Stage director
Hildegard Bechtler | Set designer
Fotini Dimou | Costume designer
Lucy Carter | Lightings

Lucy Crowe | Belinda
Sarah Connolly | Dido
Anita Watson | Second Woman
Lucas Meachem | Aeneas
Sara Fulgoni | Sorceress
Eri Nakamura | First Witch
Pumeza Matshikiza | Second Witch
Iestyn Davies | Spirit
Ji-Min Park | Sailor

Dancers of the Royal Ballet

Julian Perkins | Harpsichordist
Jan Čižmář | Theorbist
Andrew Skidmore | Cellist
Steven Moore | Organist

Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment
Christopher Hogwood | Music director
The Royal Opera Extra Chorus
Stephen Westrop | Chorus master

Program

Henry Purcell, Dido and Æneas
- Overture
- I: "Shake the Cloud from off your brow"
- I: "Ah Belinda, I am press'd with torment"
- I : "Grief increases by concealing"
- I: "When monarches unite, how happy their state"
- I: "Whence could so much virtue spring"
- I: "Fear no danger to ensue"
- I: "See our royal guest appears"
- I: "Cupid only throws the dart"
- I: "If not for mine, for Empire's sake"
- I: "Pursue thy conquest, Love"
- I: "To the hills and the vales"
- I: The triumphing Dance
- II, 1: Prelude for the Witches "Wayward sisters, you that fright"
- II, 1: "Harm's our delight"
- II, 1: "The Queen of Carthage"
- II, 1: "Ho! ho! ho!"
- II, 1: "But ere we this perform"
- II, 1: "In our deep vaulted cell"
- II, 1: Dance of the Furies
- II, 2: Ritornelle
- II, 2: "Thanks to these lonesome vales"
- II, 2: "Oft she visits the lone mountain"
- II, 2: "Behold upon my bending spear"
- II, 2: "Haste, haste to town"
- II, 2: "Stay Prince"
- III: "Come away"
- III: The Sailor's Dance
- III: "See, see the flags"
- III: "Our next motion"
- III: "Destruction's our deligth"
- III: The Witches' Dance
- III: "Your counsel all is urged in vain"
- III: "Great minds against themselves conspire"
- III: "Thy hand Belinda"
- III: "When I am laid in earth"
- III : "With drooping wings"

Details

Directed by:
- Jonathan Haswell
Venue: Royal Opera House, Covent Garden (London, Great Britain)
Production date: 2009
Duration: 1 h 01 min
Production: © Royal Opera House / Opus Arte
Available version(s): EN
Available subtitle(s) : FR, EN, ES

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