Purcell's Dido and Aeneas is considered the world's favorite opera in English and the best-known opera composed before Mozart.
Composition History
The earliest surviving score of Dido and Aeneas is incomplete and was copied over forty years after Purcell's death, suggesting a complicated performance history.
Compositional Technique
The opera's structure, with successive units of recitative-air-chorus-dance, owes much to French operatic models, such as those by Lully.
Critical Reception
Despite perceived flaws and criticism of its libretto, Purcell's Dido and Aeneas is unlikely to lose its status as the best-loved of all baroque operas due to the compelling quality of its music.
Compositional Technique
Nahum Tate, the librettist, invented malicious witches for Dido and Aeneas, influencing the plot and making Dido a more sympathetic figure.
Interpretation
For this recording, La Nuova Musica's artistic director David Bates aimed for a soundworld incorporating Italian and French musical influences, using instruments like harp, recorders, and oboes.
Composition History
Dido and Aeneas was composed for intimate surroundings, possibly premiering in 1689 at a girls' boarding school in Chelsea run by dancing master Josias Priest.
