Didon (Piccinni)

Didon

Tragédie lyrique by Niccolò Piccinni

Niccolò Piccinni, engraving by Hippolyte Pauquet

Librettist| Jean-François Marmontel
Language| French
Based on| Dido
Premiere|

16 October 1783 (1783-10-16)

Fontainebleau

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 al the Paris Opera.[1] Didon had some influence on Berlioz's opera on the same theme, Les Troyens.

## Roles

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Roles, voice types, premiere cast Role  | Voice type | Premiere cast: 16 October 1783[2][3]

|
|

Didon, the Queen of Carthage | soprano | Antoinette Cécile de Saint-Huberty
Énée, a Trojan prince | tenor | Étienne Lainez
Iarbe, an African King | bass-baritone | Henri Larrivée
Phénice, a confidante of Dido | soprano  | Adélaïde Gavaudan, cadette
Elise, Dido's sister | soprano  | Suzanne Joinville[4]
Un confident d'Iarbe, a confidant of Iarbas | bass-baritone  | Louis-Claude-Armand Chardin ("Chardiny")
Pretres de Pluton, priests of Pluto | bass-baritones and tenors  |

* Messieurs Moreau
* Chardiny
* Jean-Joseph Rousseau [it]
* Dufrenaye (or Dufresnay)
* Tacusset
* Leroux (or Le Roux)[5]

Une ombre, the shade of Anchises | bass-baritone  | Auguste-Athanase (Augustin) Chéron
Dido's followers, Carthaginian people, Trojan warriors: choir
Ballet – ballerinas: Marie-Madeleine Guimard, Peslin, Anne-Marguerite Dorival, Dorlay; male dancers: Maximilien Gardel, Nivelon, Laurent

## Synopsis

[edit]

The Death of Dido, by Andrea Sacchi

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

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* Didon Soloists, Orchestra del Teatro Petruzzelli, conducted by Arnold Bosman (Dynamic, 2003)

## References

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Notes

1. ^ Lajarte, p. 337
2. ^ according to the original libretto
3. ^ Casaglia, Gherardo (2005). "Didon, 16 October 1783". L'Almanacco di Gherardo Casaglia (in Italian).
4. ^ Mademoiselle 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. 10
5. ^ Both Moreau and Chardiny (basses-tailles), and Rousseau and Dufrenaye (hautes-contre) were soloists of the Opéra company, while Tacusset and Leroux were members of the choir.

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

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* 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. ISBN 978-88-6073-184-5 (in Italian)
* Holden, Amanda (ed.), The New Penguin Opera Guide, New York: Penguin Putnam, 2001. ISBN 0-14-029312-4
* "Didon (1815) – Niccolò Piccinni" Archived 2009-09-25 at the Wayback Machine, University Of North Texas Libraries on library.unt.edu

## External links

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* Didon (Piccinni): Scores at the International Music Score Library Project

* v
* t
* e

Niccolò Piccinni

Opera|

* La buona figliuola (1760)
* Le donne vendicate (1763)
* Il finto astrologo (1765)
* L'americano (1772)
* Roland (1778)
* Atys (1780)
* Iphigénie en Tauride (1781)
* Adèle de Ponthieu (1781)
* Didon (1783)
* Diane et Endymion (1784)
* Pénélope (1785)

List of operas by Niccolò Piccinni ·  Category:Operas by Niccolò Piccinni

* 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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