Opera Workshop

The Story

Dido and Aeneas tells the tale of the legendary Queen of Carthage, Dido, and the Trojan refugee prince, Aeneas. When Aeneas and his crew become shipwrecked in Carthage, he and the queen fall in love. In the meantime, witches plot Dido's destruction. The sorceress has one of her coven impersonate Mercury, who tells Aeneas he must leave Dido and found the new Troy (Rome). Forced to choose between passion and duty, Aeneas and his sailors prepare to leave, much to the witches' delight. Dido, who cannot live without him, is absolutely heartbroken and awaits death.

The Music

• Dido and Aeneas is one of England's finest operatic works by one of the country's leading operatic composers.
• Dido's lament, When I am laid in earth, is one of opera's most moving expressions of sorrow and has been called one of the greatest arias in the history of music.
• The libretto is considered to be the most perfect short opera libretto ever written.