Dido and Aeneas

In the sunken city of Carthage, Queen Dido mourned the loss of her husband until she was swept off of her feet by the Trojan hero Aeneas, whom had set sail from Troy.  Aeneas, his father, and his son were heading to Italy to start a new kingdom, as directed by Zeus. This tragic love story is notably England’s oldest opera.

      First performed in 1689 at an all-girls school in London, Dido and Aeneas stood out from all of the other operas of this time period. What is truly inspiring about this opera is how far ahead of its time it is. The attention to detail, choice of wording, and the performance itself were like nothing ever seen before. The tone of the opera is rather dark considering the abundant use of dramatic music and dimmed lighting. What is most amazing about this opera is how impactful the music is. In modern day, a film is generally straight forward. Actors speak their lines and viewers rarely have moments of confusion or misunderstanding. With an opera, it is extremely important to pay attention to detail. Every note, every poem, every rhyme, every song is written with purpose and direction. Purcell’s treatment of phrase structure makes it easier for the viewer to understand and follow the opera.

      While opera is not a tech-heavy art form, the use of technology in setting the stage makes a huge difference and impact on the performance. In this opera, lighting helps to set the tone for the scene. The use of dimmed and dark lighting at the end when Dido is distraught works so well with the music choice. It allows the viewer to truly feel and understand the scene. It exaggerates how dark and depressed Dido is feeling after having to part with Aeneas. Technology also allows for the use of open flame fire on stage sets. This opera was written well before the years of electricity so to make it feel authentic, the use of fire is important. It is true to the art form that opera is, as it was most popular in the 19^th century. Lastly, the use of cameras gives viewers 24-hour access to this opera.

            This opera’s tragic love story came as a shock to audiences of this time. In many other operas, the hero’s life may have been threatened or greatly endangered, but they always somehow come back to save the day. In this opera, Aeneas goes to fulfil his mission set by Zeus and Dido takes her own life. This is not in any way a happy ending. While shocking, it holds a hard truth that everything doesn’t always end beautifully. That there is hardship and pain in life and in love. The most resonating part of this opera was the aria “When I am laid in earth” performed by Dido. This performance held so much power that it is still performed today.

            This opera was specifically important to the development to opera as an art form. It created an entire new style of opera, English. Contrary to the previous styles of opera, this was a dark and tragic type of love story that the world of opera had never experienced previously. Even though everyone loves a happy ending, this was a refreshing change to the usual predictable hero-loving ending of previous operas.

            This opera surprisingly translates well to the world of video gaming. At first, creating a tragic love story into a video game seemed rather challenging, however, the way the story is written creates many opportunities for gaming missions. The game begins in the burning city of Troy. The user must collect Aeneas’ son and father and find the path to the ship, so they can survive the downfall of this city. If the user completes the task, Zeus will announce that to win the game, Aeneas and his comrades have to safely arrive in Italy. Along the way, they stop in Carthage, where Aeneas falls in love with Dido. The city of Carthage is actually a trap to stop the user from winning the game. The witches create a storm to try to drive Aeneas out and to his death. There is a hidden spell book in the city. There are multiple levels where Aeneas must fight off the sorcerers and witches to try to find the spell book to stop the storm. But there is a twist. The user can decline the spell book and take dido with them and take their chances at sea, trying to steer out of the storm. If the user decides to take the spell book and go, Dido will die, and the user will continue on the journey to Italy.

References

Music Appreciation. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://courses.lumenlearning.com/sanjacinto-musicapp-1/chapter/dido-and-aeneas/

Purcell's Dido and Aeneas: The birth of English opera. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.opera-online.com/en/articles/purcells-dido-and-aeneas-the-birth-of-english-opera--2

Henry Purcell's Dido and Aeneas in Text and Music. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.electrummagazine.com/2011/10/henry-purcells-dido-and-aeneas-in-text-and-music/

Welcome to Naxos Records. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.naxos.com/education/opera_libretti.asp?pn=&char=ALL&composer=Purcell&opera=Dido_and_Aeneas&libretto_file=00_Synopsis.htm