In the Aeneid Virgil shifts scenes from time to time to show the discussions, squabbles and intervention of the god in Aeneas� fate. The hero has to leave Dido to found Rome in order that the Roman empire might come to be. Virgil�s role as official propagandist is quite well known. What happens to Dido and Carthage is an anachronistic payback for Hannibal�s conquering Rome, which also legitimized the Punic War in which Rome finally smashed the city and sowed the fields with salt.

Aeneas� tale is an older form of tragedy, in which people are helpless to escape their destiny. By Shakespeare�s time, the tragic hero had an in-built character defect that, despite the greatness and power he attains, always leads to his downfall. Even now, 300 years later, if Bill Clinton is any indication, that notion of tragedy still applies.

And the music is suitably somber. From the outset, the orchestra plays mournful chords, that instantly communicates how the piece will turn out. I find that particularly haunting for such an old piece from the Baroque era, which I tend to associate with the peppy tunes of Handel and Bach.

Don�t get me wrong there are comical moments in Dido and Aeneas. Purcell transfers the role of the gods to witches and sorcerers, who have more of an interest in laying Dido low than anything to do with Rome. In the productions that I have heard, the witches usually camp up their performance. They usually sing in a nasalized whine, and cackle like good old crones. When the head sorcerer mentions Aeneas�s destiny to legitimize their plots, the witches break out into a chorus entitled �Ha Ha Ha.� In another chorus, toward the end, when Dido�s fate is sealed, they sing these lines which still crack me up:

�Destruction�s our delight
Delight our greatest sorry
Elissa dies tonight and Carthage flames tomorrow.�

If Purcell had only given us �Dido�s Lament,� and the witches� cacklings, this opera would have been just diverting, and kind of surreal. What adds depth, however, is a simple chorus, led by Dido�s maid, Belinda, in which she tells Dido:

Fear no danger to ensue,
The Hero Loves as well as you,
Ever gentle, ever smiling,
And the cares of life beguiling,
Cupid strew your path with flowers Gather'd from Elysian bowers.

Others might find this piece saccharine, but if you�ve ever been in love, you know the feeling of walking on air. It took a while, but eventually I experienced similar feelings for one met at the French House.

Purcell bio

Opera description

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Recording

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