Name: Dido and Aeneas
Start: 2008-12-05T00:00:00.000Z
End: 2008-12-09T00:00:00.000Z
Location: Opéra-Comique

Organization

Singer

Soprano

Malena Ernman

Dido

Tenor

Christopher Maltman

Aeneas

Judith van Wanroij

Belinda

Mezzo-soprano

Hilary Summers

Sorceress

Lina Markeby

Second woman

Ana Quintans

First witch

Céline Ricci

Second witch

Marc Mauillon

Spirit

Ben Davies

First sailor

Conductor

William Christie

Stage director

Deborah Warner

Costume designer

Chloe Obolensky

Set designer

Others

Les Arts Florissants

Opéra Comique

Dido and Aeneas

Paris

France

Opéra-Comique

Salle Bizet

Dido and Aeneas
'Tragic opera' in three acts by Henry Purcell (1659 - 1695)
Libretto by Nahum Tate after his play 'Brutus of Alba' and Virgil's 'Aenid'

Recording: Opéra Comique I Paris
Director:  François Roussillon
Duration: 01:06

But I, being poor, have only my dreams. I have spread my dreams under your feet. Tread softly, because you tread on my dreams... So begins Deborah Warner’s captivating 2008 production of Purcell’s timeless opera Dido and Æneas: a careful warning that suits the tragic story only too well. Swedish mezzo-soprano Malena Ernman as a disarming Dido is at the head of a stellar cast joined by Les Arts Florissants under William Christie’s direction.

The Roman poet Virgil was the first to lay down in detail the tragic tale of the Phoenician princess turned queen of Carthage, whose desperate love led to an untimely end. Renaissance artists later transformed her compelling story, with Dido lamented as the archetype of the woman betrayed. Heroine of no fewer than fourteen operas, it is Purcell's Dido incarnation in the 1689 Dido and Æneas that remains the crowning jewel among them. Following a prologue (now lost), the three-act opera lasts less than an hour, but contains some of the composer's most breathtaking music, including the unforgettable "When I am laid in earth," often simply known as "Dido's Lament".

Deborah Warner's Dido draws on accounts (debated by some) of the opera's premiere taking place in an all-girls school near London, incorporating Greek chorus-like school girls into the production. Against the backdrop of Chloé Obolensky's darkly glittering sets and luscious baroque-style costumes, the girls' light-hearted, pixie-ish presence contrasts well with Dido's sorrow and the sorceress's evil machinations. Purcell's music is performed with great care and delicacy by singers and instrumentalists alike, weaving the complex emotional tapestry that animates this tragic allegory of trust, love, and deception.

Photo: © Elisabeth Carecchio

Dido and Aeneas Purcell

Public

Approved

Production booklet

Further reading