Henry Purcell's masterpiece Dido and Aeneas

Purcell's opera Dido and Aeneas, composed around 1688, is considered an exceptional and seminal work in the history of English opera for several reasons:
1. Musical innovation: Purcell's score demonstrates a remarkable blend of different styles, incorporating elements of French opera, Italian opera, and English masque traditions. The melodic writing is both expressive and deeply emotive, showcasing Purcell's gift for creating memorable melodies.
2. Dramatic unity: Unlike many operas of its time, which often had disjointed plots, Dido and Aeneas maintains a tight dramatic focus and narrative coherence. The story, based on Virgil's Aeneid, follows the tragic love story between Dido, the Queen of Carthage, and the Trojan hero Aeneas, creating a powerful emotional arc.
3. Characterization: Purcell's music brilliantly captures the essence of each character, from Dido's regal dignity and heartbreaking vulnerability to the mischievous antics of the witches and the sorrowful lamentations of Aeneas. The depth of characterization is remarkable for such a compact opera.
4. Orchestration: Purcell's orchestration is both varied and imaginative, employing a diverse range of instruments, including strings, woodwinds, and brass, to create rich and evocative textures.
5. Groundbreaking use of chorus: The chorus in Dido and Aeneas plays a pivotal role, serving not only as commentators but also as active participants in the drama. Purcell's use of the chorus is considered a significant innovation in opera.
6. Enduring popularity: Despite its relatively short length (around an hour), Dido and Aeneas has remained a beloved and frequently performed work, captivating audiences with its emotional depth, melodic beauty, and dramatic power.
Overall, Dido and Aeneas is a masterpiece that showcases Purcell's genius as a composer and his ability to blend different musical traditions into a cohesive and profoundly moving work of art.​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​
00:00 Intro
03:44 Ah! Belinda, I am pressed with torment
09:39 If not for mine
18:21 Wayward sisters
23:26 Come along, fellow sailor
26:20 Thy hand, Belinda - Remember me
33:49 Extro
Original videos:
Ah! Belinda, I am pressed with torment • Janet Baker - Dido & A...
If not for mine, for empire’s sake
• Purcell: Dido and Aene... . (17:54)
Wayward sisters • "Wayward sisters" perf...
Come along, fellow sailor • Purcell: Come Away Fel...
Thy hand, Belinda - Remember me • Purcell: Dido and Aene... . (1:05:48)
Libretto English/German:
www.saltovocale.org/wp-conten...

[@diecheneydie]

Beautiful staging! That death was magnificent…so elegant, so moving. The soprano had for me a soubrette-ish, Broadway voice with a wobbly delivery.

[@TheFigaro666]

Thank you for bringing some early baroque opera to your nice channel. Thank you for your channel. Now, after setting such an antecedent, we need some Monteverdi, Handel, and Vivaldi in your channel😊😊. I have always been against some opera "connoisseurs" who say baroque operas are museum pieces lacking expression and feelings. They do not know what they are talking about!!!!

[@peterpawlik2495]

I promise to do better 😄🙏

[@cbiondino]

Greetings from Buenos Aires, Argentina. Sorry in advance for any mistakes and limitations with the english language 😅 I just discovered your channel a couple of days ago and it’s fantastic! I've learned plenty with your videos and they also made me cry and laugh a lot 🙂 I'm writing this to thank you and to explain how your channel has helped me. I returned to my old love for opera some years ago. My previous experience was very limited. When I was a kid (I'm 51 now) I lived in a small town with no theaters nearby, but my mother had a collection of opera recordings, mostly from the '50s and '60s and limited to the most important italian operas (from Rossini to Puccini) plus Carmen, and mostly limited to a few interpreters, mainly Callas and Di Stefano. That was my first encounter and love for opera. Since I started to learn about opera again, I first discovered entire new worlds with a lot of singers of that same period and with works of Mozart, Von Weber, Marshner and Wagner (although Tristan is still hard for me, but I keep watching and listening to it). Now I'm expanding my watching and listening to older and contemporary singers and to Strauss and french opera. I have not yet entered the territory of russian opera, nor baroque and contemporary opera (except for some arias and fragments). Until now I was focus on the musical aspects of opera, and your channel, among lots of other things, has added another fascinating new world for me: the real importance and beauty of the staging! I've already discovered the sort of "cultural war" the old-stuff-die-hards have against stage innovation and contemporary singers, and I was kind of "in the middle": many of my favorite singers are from the mid-20th century (but now I also love some contemporary singers too) and I didn’t always like the stage innovations I saw (but now I like several I've seen). And I'm opposed to the level of fanatism and intolerance of different groups in social media (that also hate each other for minimum disagreements 🤣). So, another important aspect of your videos I really appreciate is your civilized approach to rational and polite debate. Sorry for the extensive commentary but I felt that just a "thank you, great channel" wasn't enough. I'll stay tuned!

[@peterpawlik2495]

@@cbiondino Thank you so much for your lovely and very kind comment! And for sharing your journey of discovering new aspects of opera every day. I really love your story, your travel from Callas and di Stefano (not a bad starting point at all 😄👍) to more modern or even very modern singers. I am sure you will find some modern interpretations less appealing but i bet you will fall in love with so many new sopranos and tenors and basses. And hopefully with some stage directors as well 🙄😄 Again thank you very much and many greetings to the beautiful Buenos Aires 🙏

[@operaFan-tn8ng]

So, when I was a student and a member of the university's madrigal choir, I was a member of the chorus in a production of Dido and Aeneas. Dressed in what looked like giant tea towels we lurked in a group at the back of a very minimalist stage joining in when appropriate - and occasionally on an ad hoc basis for the more enthuastic and unrehearsed members of our chorus! I remember yodelling about making haste into town to get shelter from a storm, playing a "doxy" to a sailor - difficult to be alluring in a tea towel, and the "ha ha ha" chorus, which needed a great deal of refinement as we sounded like a group of hens clucking! Ah, those were the days. You would not have wanted to be the opera director of our chaotic group of sqawkers! Anyway, as usual I'm going to be a heathen and say that I'm not keen on either of the two Didos here. I know Dame Janet Baker holds the accolade for her Dido and, until recently, I went along with this. I just am not too keen on "plummy" voices though. Vivica Genaux is at the other extreme for me, a bit like she hasn't got any strength or support so, for me, the sound is a bit thin and almost shrill. I agree with you about the drama/staging though, that death scene was an outstanding presentation. I recently came across a KZbin video of Dido's lament sang by a soprano called Anna Dennis. To me she has the most exquisite and perfect voice for Dido. Another really lovely interpretation is by Helen Charlston singing with the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment. They had taken a Coldplay video and replaced the sound with Dido's Lament. It's brilliant! Anyway, those two are my preferred singers for Dido. Someone in the comments mentioned Handel's Alcina. I love this. One of the best recordings of "Tornamia Vagheggia" is by another of my favourite sopranos, Amanda Forsythe singing with a Baroque orchestra called "Apollo's Fire" It's absolutely wonderful. By the way, back to Dido and Aeneas, was it Purcell's idea that the three witches should "ham" it up? They are just hilarious and have been in the (few) productions I've seen, including the one I took part in. Do you think this was a bit like Shakespeare and was meant to be a bit of comic relief, or did Purcell really intend them to be menacing? I wonder about that. Thank you, once again, for a brilliant and interesting discussion.

[@diecheneydie]

Speaking of early operas, a few years ago we were in Paris. We’d seen Damrau as Violetta at the Bastille: a mediocre production, but she was the best Violetta we’ve seen live. We had no plans for our last day, so my wife insisted we tour the Palais Garnier. I balked at paying 20€ to see an empty house, but being a good husband I complied. (It was worth it: quite impressive.) While there she saw that tickets to that night’s Coronation of Poppea were available. I’d never seen anything before Handel, but again I was compliant. Nowadays titles in English are frequently available even outside the States, but not at the Garnier. But even with that handicap, it was one of the delightful performances I’ve ever attended. The costuming was of Monteverdi’s period, but the staging was striking: precise, kabuki-like movement, almost as if the singers were on tracks. We have a few recordings of Dido, but after seeing this I’m dying to see it on a stage!

[@peterpawlik2495]

Thank you for your comment! The 20€ for the tour seems expensive but on the other hand it's quite the experience to see how the magic is made possible with those hundreds of lights, dozens of flies, the elevators etc etc. And the sheer size of the backstage area which one can't imagine when sitting in the audience... Poppea is such a masterpiece. Lucky you that you had the chance to attend such an interesting production.

[@Spielering]

There are many wonderful recordings of this opera. My favorite death of Dido was Kirsten Flagstad, but my favorite all-around recording Emmanuelle Haïm’s, which a friend describes as opera with a rock sensibility.

[@peterpawlik2495]

Pleasure meeting you after i had some comment exchanges with your husband 😄 I found the Haïm recording on KZbin and am looking forward to listening to it. Thanks for the Tipp!

[@davidheaps3336]

My journey through opera started with the big three (Verdi, Puccini, Bellini), then on to Strauss and moderns,and now back to Baroque, where I think I will stay. My favourite opera (currently) is Alcina - what a masterpiece!

[@peterpawlik2495]

That has been pretty much my journey as well although I wouldn't go as far as you to say that I will stay with baroque - can't give up my first love of belcanto, Verdi, Wagner and Strauss 😄 But I am 100% with you when it comes to Alcina - what a marvel of music and theater. I did a production of it a few years back with my students - it was pure bliss!

[@davidheaps3336]

@@peterpawlik2495 You are right There is so much else to enjoy: Cosi; Jessye Norman in Walkure; I forgot to mention Donizetti. If only people knew what they were missing. As a director you should like doing Peter Grimes and Billy Budd?

[@diecheneydie]

A beautiful work.....and one of my wife's very favorite!

[@diecheneydie]

Unbeknownst to me, while I was commenting about Poppea in Paris, my weibchen added her own comment! See if you can guess who my partner in opera (and all the rest) is.

[@peterpawlik2495]

Now that's what I call a challenge 😬 The timeline of your comments and the one from your lovely wife is a bit confusing 😄 there are comments from @diecheneydie (interesting username, btw 😂) from 2 hours ago (the long one with the description of your Paris trip) where you are mentioning your wife so clearly it was written by you yourself. And then there is one from 3 hours ago which mentions the beautiful staging and the soubrette-ish quality of the sopranos voice. I am no Sherlock Holmes but I would say that this one is from your wife simply because married couples are often quite different when it comes to personality. And you, sir, seem to be the more outgoing type (at least when it comes to comments) while the comment about the soubrette-ish quality is more restraint. So my money is on that one as being from your wife 🤷‍♂️😄

[@diecheneydie]

Nope, that was me again! (For whatever reason this video inspired multiple comments from yours truly.) While she and I agreed on the soprano, that one was me again. Hers was the post which mentioned the Flagstad recording. We’re one of those liberated couples who each have their own account names. How enlightened of me! Sorry. You did NOT win the Rolex watch. [The embarrassing name of my account was a childish reaction to our misguided invasion of Iraq. I’d change it if I could, but alas.]

[@peterpawlik2495]

@@diecheneydie Good thing for me and the society that i don't work as a detective 😬 Your username might, in retrospect, sound a little, well, emotional but understandable considering the circumstances - no judgement from my side 😄

[@n.n.5293]

My Dad got annoyed with me once for listening to Dido and Aeneas („Come away fellow sailors“) because he thought it was too strange for him. Also, I think I am above having my love of Opera questioned, but some of them can have some boring parts. Like any medium. Orchestral Interludes can be so interesting, because the singers can focus on acting. And that music was utterly gorgeous.

[@peterpawlik2495]

Good for you that you are done justifying your love for opera 💪 I can't understand how someone can't fall in love with Come Away, Fellow Sailor since it's such a smashing piece of music. Whenever I listen to it I can't sit still, my whole body wants to get up and do some bizarre looking dance so you can imagine how hard it was for me to sit still while recording the video 😄

[@yelowgizmo]

Fantastic!

[@peterpawlik2495]

🙏

[@marcarrasco1692]

Thanks again. I LOVE barroque operas, they sound so pure !!!!!!!!!

[@peterpawlik2495]

Thank you for your comment - they really do. And in addition to that they sometimes have a strangely appealing rough quality to them, a less refined string sound I really love. And those often simple sounding rhythms which are in reality very sophisticated? You see: it's dangerous to write me a comment because it triggers me to rave about opera 😂

[@marcarrasco1692]

"Weniger it's mehr" Try to listen Purcell, Lully, Caldara in the Mies Pavillion in Barcelona. It touches your soul!!!!

[@peterpawlik2495]

@@marcarrasco1692 great architecture meets great music - I already love the idea of this

[@marcarrasco1692]

@@peterpawlik2495 The beauty of the very difficult achievement of simplicity, with hundreds of years of distance on the creation.

[@belpit66]

For me, no one compares to Janet Baker as Dido. I do like the Poème Harmonique staging.

[@peterpawlik2495]

Thank you for your comment. Glad you liked the staging 😊

[@mariadanila7749]

Janet Baker! ❤

[@peterpawlik2495]

She wasn't bad, was she? And it's interesting to see an early Glyndebourne production and to see how far they have come when it comes to modern staging... (sorry for the not very elegant repetition of "see" and "come" 😬) Have a great day!

[@michaelsmith4854]

You make a good argument for early opera,but I do find them hard going, I even get bored with Mozart (don't hate me) But I love your videos, thank you

[@belpit66]

It can be challenging to get into early opera. I'd suggest Rameau as a possible way in. (And you REALLY need to persevere with Mozart.)

[@peterpawlik2495]

By saying that you like my videos you make it impossible for me to hate you - smart move 😄 But I do understand your hesitation when it comes to Mozart. It took me years (after been introduced to opera through Verdi and Puccini) to appreciate these divine operas. And operas from an earlier period can be even harder to fall in love with. I would suggest rather than just listening to them trying to see live performances in the theater if you have the possibility. The acting and the whole live experience could make a huge difference... But anyway: Thank you for your comment, I really appreciate it 🙏

[@mimikrya8794]

I have seen several versions of this opera (on recordings), but I must admit that I like your version the most.🙂 I'm a fan of baroque operas, but, like most things in life, I prefer the younger ones 😂. And Genaux is not in her element for me without baroque bravado🤔.

[@peterpawlik2495]

The young ones...? 😂

[@mimikrya8794]

@@peterpawlik2495 😂Those born in the 18th century.