Hi, I'm Greg Ristow, Artistic Director of
Encore Vocal Arts, and this is the Plot of
Dido and Aeneas in 60 Seconds flat.
Aeneas is THE Trojan Man, a buff, hot, warrior.
He survives when the Greeks sack Troy and
flees to found a new empire -- which will
eventually become Rome.
He aims for Italy, but a storm sent by evil
witches makes him crash into hostile territory,
the Queendom of Carthage, basically where
Tunisia juts out towards Italy.
Our opera begins.
By the way, this all takes place about 2800
years ago.
Dido built Carthage from scratch after fleeing
her evil brother King Pigmallion of Tyre,
(that's Tyre with a Y) who killed Dido's husband
for his wealth.
Aeneas and Dido really get each other: they've
both had to flee their homeland, they're both
trying to get kingdoms off the ground.
And did I mention that they're both famously
beautiful?
So instead of fighting, and though Dido had
rejected other suitors to mourn the loss of
her husband, she lets herself be wooed by
Aeneas, and they have a love affair which
-- according to Virgil -- lasts exactly one
very torrid year.
The witches who hate happy endings plot to
pit Aeneas's duty to his country against his
love for Dido.
They send their elf, disguised as the gods'
messenger Mercury, to tell Aeneas he must
leave Dido immediately to found a new Troy.
Aeneas commands his ships readied, and when
he tells Dido the gods told him to break up
with her, she's understandably skeptical.
And furious.
At her tears, he decides to stay with her,
but she's done with him after what she thinks
was a fabulous lie:
"tis enough that you had once a thought of
leaving me," she cries, "away, away!"
And when he goes, she kills herself.
Timeless Love, Henry Purcell's Dido and Aeneas,
Saturday, November 16th at 8pm at Marian University.
Tickets at encorevocalarts.org.
