Opera
Dido and Aeneas
Henry Purcell
An hour long, played without an interval, on period instruments at the front of the stage.
Libretto Nahum Tate, after VirgilSung in EnglishSurtitles Not requiredRunning time 55mIntervals NoneFirst performed c. 1689
Synopsis
The whole
Carthage, a hunt, a storm, a forged message from a god who never sent it, and eight bars of descending bass that everybody in the house is waiting for.
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The orchestra sits on stage in full view and the singers move around them. At fifty-five minutes it is the shortest thing we stage, and the Lament is taken slower than most houses dare.