Didon (Desmarets)

Didon is a tragédie en musique or opera in a prologue and five acts by librettist, Louise-Geneviève Gillot de Saintonge, and composer Henri Desmarets. The 1693 opera was heavily influenced by Jean-Baptiste Lully's Armide and the music of both Marc-Antoine Charpentier and Henri Dumont.

## Performance history

[edit]

Didon was premiered successfully by the Académie Royale de Musique at the Théâtre du Palais-Royal in Paris on 5 June 1693. The work was reprised on the following 11 September in the presence of Louis, Grand Dauphin, and revived again on the Paris stage in 1704 and 1705.[1]

On 10 July 1999 the first modern revival of the opera was mounted at the Festival de Beaune by Les Talens Lyriques with conductor and harpsichordist Christophe Rousset. They presented the opera later that year at the Arsenal de Metz and the L'Opéra of the Palace of Versailles. The performance from Versailles on 9 October 1999 was broadcast live on France Musique, and a CD of the live recording was later issued. The German premiere of the opera took place at the Kiel Opera House in 2007.[2]

## Roles

[edit]

Role  | Voice type  | Premiere cast, 5 June 1693[3]

|
|

Didon, Queen of Carthage | soprano | Marie Le Rochois
Énée | haute-contre | Louis Gaulard Dumesny
Iarbe, King of Gaetulia | bass | Jean Dun
Anne  | soprano  | Fanchon Moreau
Barcé  | soprano  | Françoise Dujardin
Magician  | soprano  | Julie d'Aubigny
Pleasure  | haute-contre  | Jean Boutelou
Glory  | soprano  |
Fame  | soprano  | Marie-Catherine Poussin
Jupiter | bass  | Labbé
Mercure | taille | Claude Desvoyes
Mars | bass  | Charles Hardouin
Vénus | soprano  | Françoise Dujardin
Servant of Sychée | bass  |
Arcas  | taille  | Poussin
Acate  | bass  | Moreau
Furie  | soprano  |
Three nymphs  | sopranos  |
Two dryads  | sopranos  |
Two Carthaginians  | hautes-contres  |
A faun  | bass  |

## Synopsis

[edit]

Although betrothed to Iarbe, Didon is in preparation to wed Énée. Humiliated and dreading the impending wedding, Iarbe contacts his father, the god Jupiter. Jupiter promises him vengeance and Énée is forced to leave for the conquest of Italy. Didon and Énée lament their parting. Carthage comes under the pressure of the god Mercury. Didon loses all hope, becomes insane, and commits suicide.

## References

[edit]

1. ^ *Thompson, Shirley (2010). New Perspectives on Marc-Antoine Charpentier. Farnham: Ashgate Publishing. p. 259\. ISBN 9780754665793.
2. ^ "Didon". operabaroque.fr.
3. ^ Casaglia, Gherardo (2005). "Didon, 5 June 1693". L'Almanacco di Gherardo Casaglia (in Italian).

* v
* t
* e

"Dido and Aeneas" from Virgil's Aeneid

Characters|

* Dido
* Aeneas

Operas|

* Didone (1641, Cavalli)
* Dido and Aeneas (1688, Purcell)
* discography
* "Dido's Lament"
* Didon (1693, Desmarets)
* Didone abbandonata (1724, Metastasio)
* Didone abbandonata (1724, Sarro)
* Didone abbandonata (1724, Albinoni)
* Didone abbandonata (1762, Sarti)
* Didon (1783, Piccinni)
* Dido, Queen of Carthage (1792, Storace)
* Les Troyens (1863, Berlioz)

Plays|

* Dido, Queen of Carthage (c. 1593)

Poetry|

* Roman d'Enéas (1160)
* Eneas romance (ca. 1170-1188)

Music|

* Simple Man

Art|

* Dido building Carthage

Related|

* Low Ham Roman Villa
* Amelia

* v
* t
* e

Virgil's Aeneid (19 BC)

Characters|

| Deities|

* Alecto
* Crinisus
* Cupid
* Hecate
* Hymen
* Juno
* Jupiter
* Mars
* Mercury
* Saturn
* Tiberinus
* Venus

|

Trojans|

* Achates
* Aeneads
* Aeneas
* Aeolus
* Aletes
* Anchises
* Andromache
* Antiphates
* Ascanius
* Caieta
* Capys
* Cassandra
* Clonius
* Corynaeus
* Creusa
* Dardanus
* Dares Phrygius
* Deiphobus
* Elymus
* Entellus
* Euryalus
* Gyas
* Helenus
* Hippocoon
* Ilioneus
* Laocoön
* Mimas
* Misenus
* Mnestheus
* Nisus
* Ornytus
* Palinurus
* Pandarus
* Panthous
* Paris
* Polites
* Priam
* Ripheus
* Sergestus
* Theano
* Thymoetes
* Ucalegon

Phoenicians|

* Acerbas
* Anna Perenna
* Belus
* Dido
* Mattan I
* Pygmalion of Tyre

Others|

* Acestes
* Achaemenides
* Actor
* Ajax the Lesser
* Amata
* Androgeus
* Automedon
* Aventinus
* Butes
* Camilla
* Catillus
* Clytius
* Cydon
* Cydonians
* Diomedes
* Erulus
* Evander of Pallene
* Halaesus
* Iarbas
* Juturna
* Latinus
* Lausus
* Lavinia
* Macar
* Messapus
* Metabus
* Mezentius
* Neoptolemus
* Pallas
* Picus
* Rutuli
* Salius
* Sinon
* Turnus
* Ufens
* Umbro
* Venulus

Film and TV|

* The Avenger (1962)
* Eneide (1971–2)
* Eneyida (1991)

Literature|

* Historia Brittonum (c. 828 history of Britain)
* Roman d'Enéas (1160 poem)
* Eneas romance (ca. 1170-1188)
* Dido, Queen of Carthage (c. 1593 play)
* Virgile travesti (1648)
* Amelia (1751 novel)
* The Dunciad (1729 poem)
* Eneida (1798 mock epic)
* Lavinia (2008 novel)

Opera|

* Didone (1641 Cavalli)
* Achille et Polyxène (1687 Lully/Collasse)
* Dido and Aeneas (1688 Purcell)
* Didon (1693 Desmarets)
* Didone abbandonata (1724 libretto Metastasio)
* Didone abbandonata (1724 Sarro)
* Didone abbandonata (1724 Albinoni)
* Didone abbandonata (1726 Vinci)
* Didone abbandonata (1762 Sarti)
* Didon (1783 Piccinni)
* Dido, Queen of Carthage (1792 Storace)
* Les Troyens (1858 Berlioz)

Manuscripts|

* Book of Ballymote
* Papyrus Oxyrhynchus 31
* Vergilius Augusteus
* Vergilius Romanus
* Vergilius Vaticanus

Phrases|

* Ad astra
* Annuit cœptis
* Experto crede
* Fortune favours the bold
* Lacrimae rerum
* Mind over matter
* Obscuris vera involvens
* Quos ego
* Timeo Danaos et dona ferentes

Art|

* Laocoön and His Sons (25 BC)
* Aeneas, Anchises, and Ascanius (1619)
* The Dream of Aeneas (1660–65)
* Ascanius Shooting the Stag of Sylvia (1689)
* Dido building Carthage (1815)
* The Golden Bough (1834)

Music|

* "And Then There Was Silence"
* Gates of Fire

Study|

* Aposiopesis
* Dactylic hexameter
* Hysteron proteron
* Sortes Vergilianae

Related|

* Brutus of Troy
* Eneados
* The Golden Bough
* Parallels between Virgil's Aeneid and Homer's Iliad and Odyssey
* Political commentary of the Aeneid
* Sulpicius Apollinaris
* Trojan Horse

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