Dido and Aeneas is an opera by the English Baroque composer Henry Purcell - 1659-1695, from a libretto by Nahum Tate. The first known performance was at Josias Priest's girls' school (Chelsea) in the spring of 1689. It comprises three acts and lasts about an hour.The work did not have another public performance during the composers short (36 yr) life.
A great deal of the work of Henry Purcell has been lost, his wife had some of it published after his death, but Dido and Aeneas disappeared, the manuscript not resurfacing until 1840.
As is fitting, the Overture is very short and to the point and my production is, of course, all GPO4. Overture to Dido and Aeneas - Henry Purcell
The gaiety and verve of the second half of the Overture give no indication of the depth of poignancy Purcell hits later in the Opera, hear Kirsten Flagstad deliver "When I am laid in earth" http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U6ZQACoD1C8
Best regards,
sd cisco
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