Editing Dido and Aeneas (section)

==Performance history==

===Premiere and early revivals===
A letter from the Levant merchant Rowland Sherman associates ''Dido and Aeneas'' with [[Josias Priest]]'s girls' school in [[Chelsea, London]] no later than the summer of 1688.{{sfn|White|2009|p=420}} The first performance may have taken place as early as 1 December 1687,{{sfn|White|2009|p=422}} and evidence suggests that the opera was performed at the school again in 1689.<ref name="ReferenceA"/> Several scholars have argued that the work was composed for the English court, either for Charles II (and perhaps as early as 1684)<ref name="Pinnock, Andrew 2015"/><ref name=WoodPinnock /> or for [[James II of England|James II]].<ref>Keates (1996) p. 179 and {{harvnb|Walking|1995|p=469}}{{clarify|date=August 2024|reason=Page 469 is outside the cited range.}}</ref> Following the Chelsea performances, the opera was not staged again in Purcell's lifetime. Its next performance was in 1700 as a ''[[masque]]'' incorporated into ''Beauty the Best Advocate'', an adapted version of Shakespeare's ''[[Measure for Measure]]'' at [[Thomas Betterton]]'s theatre in London.

After 1705 it disappeared as a staged work, with only sporadic concert performances, until 1895 when the first staged version in modern times was performed by students of the [[Royal College of Music]] at London's [[Lyceum Theatre, London|Lyceum Theatre]] to mark the bicentenary of Purcell's death.<ref>Crozier (1987) p. 114</ref> ''Dido and Aeneas'' received its first performance outside England on 14 December 1895 in a concert version at the University Society in [[Dublin]].

===20th- and 21st-century performances===

[[File:Henry Purcell "Dido & Aeneas" (extrait) - Les Arts Florissants, William Christie.webm|thumb|[[Lea Desandre]] performs ''When I am laid in Earth'' with Les Arts Florissants in 2020]]

''Dido and Aeneas'' premiered in the United States at the [[Plaza Hotel]] in New York City on 10 February 1923 performed by the girls of the Rosemary School, although ''[[The New York Times]]'' noted that "considerable liberties" had been taken with the score.<ref>Rosenthal and Warrack (1979) p. 134;{{incomplete short citation|date=August 2024}} ''[[The New York Times]]'' (11 February 1923) p. 19{{full citation needed|date=August 2024|Article name?}}</ref> A concert version with professional musicians organised by the Society of Friends of Music took place on 13 January 1924 at the New York City Town Hall, using a score edited by [[Artur Bodanzky]], who also conducted the performance.<ref>Harris (1990) p. 157 lists this performance as the US premiere</ref>

As new critical editions of the score appeared, and with the revival of interest in Baroque music, the number of productions steadily increased. After [[Jonathan Miller]]'s visit to [[Bornholm]], Denmark, ''Dido'' was performed in 2007 at the [[Rønne]] Theatre, which had been built in 1823. Kevin Duggan conducted. Amongst the new productions of the opera in 2009, the 350th anniversary of Purcell's birth, were those staged by the [[De Nederlandse Opera]], the [[Royal Opera, London]], the Divertimento Baroque Opera Company, and [[Glimmerglass Opera]] in [[Cooperstown, New York]]. The Royal Opera production, which featured contemporary dance by [[Wayne McGregor Random Dance]] and animated effects by Mark Hatchard, formed part of a double bill with Handel's ''[[Acis and Galatea (Handel)|Acis and Galatea]]''.<ref>Melanie Eskenazi, [http://www.classicalsource.com/db_control/db_concert_review.php?id=6937 The Royal Opera & The Royal Ballet – ''Dido and Aeneas'' / ''Acis and Galatea''"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120309123931/http://www.classicalsource.com/db_control/db_concert_review.php?id=6937 |date=9 March 2012 }} on classicalsource.com</ref> In 2011 the opera was revived by City Wall Productions and set during World War II.<ref>[http://www.citywallproductions.com City Wall Productions' website] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140108021808/http://www.citywallproductions.com/ |date=8 January 2014 }}</ref> A new [[Opera North]] production of the opera opened at [[Leeds Grand Theatre]] in February 2013.<ref>[http://www.operanorth.co.uk/productions/98 "What's On: Details on Opera North's website] operanorth.co.uk</ref> Opera Up Close performed a truncated version in 2011, setting it in an American high school in the 1950s.

===Adaptations===
A version of the opera adapted to [[modern dance]] was choreographed by the American [[Mark Morris (choreographer)|Mark Morris]], who originally danced both the roles of Dido and the Sorceress. It premiered on 11 March 1989 at the Théâtre Varia in Brussels.<ref>Mark Morris Dance Group{{full citation needed|date=August 2024}}</ref> It has since been performed many times and was filmed in 1995 by Canadian director Barbara Willis Sweete, with Morris in the roles of Dido and the Sorceress.<ref>Walker (9 July 1995) p. C1</ref> The production was subsequently seen at the Grand Théâtre in [[Luxembourg]], [[Opéra national de Montpellier]], and [[Sadler's Wells Theatre]] in London. In the Morris adaptation, as well as another by Sasha Waltz,<ref>{{cite news |last1=Roy |first1=Sanjoy |title=Sasha Waltz & Guests: Dido and Aeneas |url=https://sanjoyroy.net/2007/04/sasha-waltz-guests-dido-and-aeneas/ |access-date=13 December 2024 |work=[[Dancing Times]] |date=1 April 2007 |location=London |via=sanjoyroy.net}}</ref> the characters are each portrayed by both a singer and a dancer, with the dancers on stage and the singers performing from the side of the stage or the [[orchestra pit]].