Editing Dido and Aeneas (section)

{{short description|Opera by Purcell}}
{{EngvarB|date=September 2013}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=December 2024}}
{{For|the painting by Turner|Dido and Aeneas (painting)}}
{{Infobox opera
| name = Dido and Aeneas
| composer = [[Henry Purcell]]
| image = Henry Purcell by John Closterman.jpg
| image_upright = 0.8
| caption = The composer, portrait by {{nowrap|[[John Closterman]]}}, c. 1695
| librettist = [[Nahum Tate]]
| based_on = Book IV of Virgil's ''[[Aeneid]]''
| premiere_date = 1689
| premiere_location = [[Josias Priest]]'s girls' school, London
}}
'''''Dido and Aeneas''''' (Z. 626)<ref>"Z" refers to the Zimmerman catalogue of Purcell's works by the American musicologist [[Franklin B. Zimmerman]]</ref> is an [[opera]] in a prologue and three acts, written by the English [[Baroque music|Baroque]] composer [[Henry Purcell]] with a [[libretto]] by [[Nahum Tate]]. The dates of the composition and first performance of the opera are uncertain. It was composed no later than July 1688,{{sfn|White|2009|p=426}} and had been performed at [[Josias Priest]]'s girls' school in London by the end of 1689.<ref name="ReferenceA">{{harvnb|White|2009|p=417}}</ref> Some scholars argue for a date of composition as early as 1683.<ref name="Pinnock, Andrew 2015">{{harvnb|Pinnock|2015|pp=199–212}}</ref><ref name=WoodPinnock>{{harvnb|Wood|Pinnock|1992}}</ref> The story is based on Book IV of [[Virgil]]'s ''[[Aeneid]]''.<ref name=Grove /> It recounts the love of [[Dido]], Queen of [[Carthage]], for the [[Troy|Trojan]] hero [[Aeneas]], and her despair when he abandons her. A monumental work in [[Baroque opera]], ''Dido and Aeneas'' is remembered as one of Purcell's foremost theatrical works.<ref name=Grove>{{harvnb|Price|2002}}</ref> It was also Purcell's only true opera, as well as his only all-sung dramatic work. One of the earliest known English operas, it owes much to [[John Blow]]'s ''[[Venus and Adonis (opera)|Venus and Adonis]]'', both in structure and in overall effect.<ref name=Grove />

The influence of [[Francesco Cavalli|Cavalli]]'s opera ''[[Didone (opera)|Didone]]'' is also apparent. Both works use the prologue/three acts format and there are similarities between, for instance, [[Mercury (mythology)|Mercury]]'s solo in ''Didone'' and the solo "Come away fellow sailors" in Purcell's work.