Friday, October 24, 2025 | 7 PM, Saturday, October 25, 2025 | 7PM, Sunday, October 25 | 3PM

Dido and Aeneas is based on Book IV of Virgil’s epic The Aeneid. It is one of the earliest known English operas, and one of the most important and often performed operas written in the Baroque period. It is also Henry Purcell’s only true opera; that is, his only all-sung dramatic work.

Dido, the queen of Carthage, falls in love with Aeneas, the Trojan prince, whilst offering him safe harbour on his journey home. A Sorceress, who hates Dido, plots to separate them by creating a storm and sending one of her servants, disguised as Mercury, to urge Aeneas to return home straight away, forsaking Dido. Aeneas readies his sailors and lets Dido know he must leave. Dido cannot bear losing him and kills herself, after offering one of the most famous English arias, Dido’s Lament (“When I am laid in earth”). In true Baroque style, the action is delivered in short recitative sections interspersed with songs, choruses, and dances.