Didon (Dido) is a tragédie lyrique in three acts by the composer Niccolò Piccinni with a French-language libretto by Jean-François Marmontel. The opera is based on the story of Dido and Aeneas from Virgil's Aeneid as well as Metastasio's libretto Didone abbandonata (which Piccinni himself had set in 1770). Didon was first performed at Fontainebleau on 16 October 1783 in the presence of the French sovereigns, Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette. After being remounted at court twice, the opera had its Paris public premiere on 1 December 1783. It proved to be the composer's greatest success and was billed almost every year till 1826, enjoying a total of 250 performances at the Paris Opera.Lajarte, p. 337 Didon had some influence on Berlioz's opera on the same theme, Les Troyens.
Roles +RoleVoice typePremiere cast: 16 October 1783according to the original librettoDidon, the Queen of CarthagesopranoAntoinette Cécile de Saint-HubertyÉnée, a Trojan princetenorÉtienne LainezIarbe, an African Kingbass-baritoneHenri LarrivéePhénice, a confidante of DidosopranoAdélaïde Gavaudan, cadetteElise, Dido's sistersopranoSuzanne JoinvilleMademoiselle Joinville was successfully replaced in following performances by Anne-Marie Jeanne Gavaudan, l'aînée (cf: Correspondance littéraire, philosophique et critique de Grimm e de Diderot, depuis 1753 jusqu'en 1790, Nouvelle Édition, Paris, Furne and Legrange, 1830, Tome XII, p. 10Un confident d'Iarbe, a confidant of Iarbasbass-baritoneLouis-Claude-Armand Chardin ("Chardiny")Pretres de Pluton, priests of Plutobass-baritones and tenorsUne ombre, the shade of Anchisesbass-baritoneAuguste-Athanase (Augustin) ChéronDido's followers, Carthaginian people, Trojan warriors: choirBallet – ballerinas: Marie-Madeleine Guimard, Peslin, Anne-Marguerite Dorival, Dorlay; male dancers: Maximilien Gardel, Nivelon, Laurent
Synopsis
Dido, Queen of Carthage (Didon), falls in love with the Trojan warrior Aeneas (Énée), who has been shipwrecked on her shore. However, Dido is promised in marriage to the African king Iarbas (Iarbe). War breaks out between Aeneas and Iarbas in which the Trojan is triumphant. But Aeneas is warned by the ghost of his father, Anchises, that he must leave Carthage at once for Italy. The heartbroken Dido commits suicide by throwing herself on a funeral pyre. Her Carthaginian subjects swear eternal revenge on Aeneas' descendants, the Romans.
Recording Didon Soloists, Orchestra del Teatro Petruzzelli, conducted by Arnold Bosman (Dynamic, 2003)
References Notes
Sources Lajarte, Théodore, Bibliothèque Musicale du Théatre de l'Opéra. Catalogue Historique, Chronologique, Anecdotique, Paris, Librairie des bibliophiles, 1878, Tome I, ad nomen, pp. 337–338 Court premiere original libretto: Didon, tragédie-lyrique, en trois actes, représentée à Fontainebleau devant Leurs Majestés, Le 16 Octobre 1783, et pour la première fois, sur le Théâtre de l'Académie Royale de Musique, le Lundi 1er Décembre 1783, Paris, P. de Lormel, 1783
Further reading First public performance original libretto: Didon, tragédie-lyrique, en trois actes: représentée pour la première fois sur le Théâtre de l'Opéra, le premier Décembre 1783, Paris, Chez les Marchands de Pièces de Théâtre, 1783 Piano-vocal score: Piccinni, Didon, Tragédie Lyrique en 3 actes, Paroles de Marmontel, Représentée par l'Académie Royale de Musique le 16 Octobre 1783, Reconstituée et réduite pour Piano et Chant par Gustave Lefevre Directeur de l'Ecole Niedermeyer, Edition conforme au manuscrit et à l'Edition de 1783, Paris, Michaelis, c. 1876–1893 Blanchetti, Francesco, "Didon", in Gelli, Piero & Poletti, Filippo (eds.),Dizionario dell'Opera 2008, Milano, Baldini Castoldi Dalai, 2007, pp. 316–317. Holden, Amanda (ed.), The New Penguin Opera Guide, New York: Penguin Putnam, 2001. "Didon (1815) – Niccolò Piccinni" , University Of North Texas Libraries on library.unt.edu
External links