Henry Purcell’s opera Dido and Aeneas (first performed in 1683) is a love story with sublime music. Its libretto is by Nahum Tate, who in 1681 adapted Shakespeare’s King Lear and gave it a happy ending. Tate retained Virgil’s unhappy ending for Dido and Aeneas and added witches and a sorceress to the plot. YBOP’s brief prologue, with nods to Cavalli, Dryden, Marlowe, and Ovid, provides context.
Photos by Harold Shapiro
