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La Didone
(Dido) (1641)Libretto by Giovanni Francesco Busenello, with the German translation by Richard Bletschacher (I,G)
6S,S(orM),M(orS),M,A,2CT(orA),2T(orCT),4T,T(or hBar),2Bar(orT),BBar,
B(orBar),2B (vocal doublings possible); chorus
3recorders-3tbns-continuo(org,chittarone,dulcimer,hpd)-strings
(variable scoring)
Abbreviations (PDF)
Boosey & Hawkes
| IRIS, Prologue | Soprano |
| AENEAS, Trojan hero | Tenor or High Baritone |
| ANCHISES, father of Aeneas | Baritone |
| ASKANIUS, son of Aeneas | Soprano |
| KREUSA, wife of Aeneas | Soprano |
| JARBAS, king of Hetuler | Countertenor |
| ANNA, sister of Dido | Mezzo-Soprano |
| KASSANDRA, daughter of a Trojan king | Soprano |
| DIDO, Queen of Carthage | Soprano |
| SICHAEUS | Tenor |
| PYRRHOS, a Greek | Baritone |
| KOREBOS, a Greek | Tenor |
| SINON, a Greek | Bass |
| ILEONEOS, Trojan envoy and companion of Aeneas | Tenor |
| AKATES, companion of Aeneas | Tenor |
| HEKUBA, Queen of Troy, wife of Priamos | Alto |
| A MESSENGER | Tenor |
| AN OLD MAN | Bass |
| JUPITER | Bass |
| JUNO | Mezzo-Soprano |
| VENUS | Soprano |
| AMOR | Soprano |
| MERKUR | Countertenor |
| NEPTUN | Bass-Baritone |
| AEOLUS | Tenor |
| FORTUNA | Soprano |
| THREE CARTHAGINIAN LADIES-IN-WAITING | SSA |
| Chorus of Huntsmen | Chorus (ATTB) |
| Chrous of Trojans | Chorus (SSATTB) |
Troy and Carthage, Ancient times
The sack of Troy. Aeneas and his family ponder their future – he is all for continuing to fight. In attempting to protect his fiancée Cassandra from the Greek Pyrrhus, Chorebus is killed. Venus urges her son Aeneas to leave. His wife Creusa is killed by Greek soldiers: her shade presses him to go. Venus and Fortune agree to aid the fleeing Trojans, though the implacable Juno attempts to destroy them. Neptune, however, takes their side, and they are able to reach Carthage. There Dido is being wooed, without success, by King Iarbas, the rejection of whose suit causes him to lose his reason. Venus sends Cupid in the form of Aeneas's son Ascanius to cause Dido to fall in love with the Trojan exile. No sooner has she capitulated than Mercury appears to Aeneas and orders him on to Italy to found a new kingdom. Dido rails against his decision and is visited by the angry shade of her dead husband Sichaeus. Following Aeneas's departure, Mercury cures Iarbas, who renews his suit to Dido. She turns from thoughts of suicide and agrees to marry him.
Dramatic, Tragic