DIDO AND AENEAS

HENRY PURCELL

LIBRETTO Nahum Tate

CONDUCTOR/CHORUS MASTER/KEYBOARD Brandon M. Eldredge

DIRECTOR Dan Wallace Miller

COSTUME DESIGNER Stacie Logue

WIG/MAKEUP DESIGNER Jason Allen

MUSICAL PREPARATION Ah Young Kim

STAGE MANAGER Natalie Main

ASSISTANT STAGE MANAGERS Olivia L. Darling and Chris Griswold

DIDO AND AENEAS | CAST

SPINNEY GAUDREAU SANDERS STROUT

IN ORDER OF VOCAL APPEARANCE

DIDO Pascale Spinney BELINDA Laura Corina Sanders WOMAN Michelle Monroe AENEAS Corey Gaudreau

SORCERESS Sable Strout

FIRST WITCH Madeline Ehlinger SECOND WITCH Carla Vargas Fuster SPIRIT Madison Rice SAILOR Kevin Thomas Harvey CHORUS Members of the Bonfils-Stanton Foundation Artists Training Program

This production features members of the Bonfils-Stanton Foundation Artists Training Program. Content advisory: This production contains adult content and sensitive material relating to suicide. Resources are available here: centralcityopera.org/2021-advisory-resources

CENTRAL CITY OPERA FESTIVAL SPONSORS Avenir Foundation, Inc. • Pamela and Louis Bansbach • Bonfils-Stanton Foundation • Estate of Valerie G. Brown Central City Opera House Association Endowment Fund • El Pomar Foundation • Mrs. Charles L. Ferguson Estate of Jane A. Hultin • Estate of Murlie J. Kogan • Lanny and Sharon Martin • Heather and Mike Miller Monarch Casino Resort Black Hawk • Citizens of the Scientific & Cultural Facilities District

PRESENTING SPONSORS Central City Opera Guild • Estate of Walt and Mary-Ruth Duncan • Estate of David R. Ericson • Judy+ and Newell Grant The Virginia W. Hill Foundation • Enid and Crosby Kemper Foundation • Lizabeth A. Lynner and James L. Palenchar Anne and Tom McGonagle • Mr. Daniel L. Ritchie • Estate of James B. Steed • Buzz and George Ann Victor

PRODUCTION SPONSORS Temple Hoyne Buell Foundation • City of Central • Mabel Y. Hughes Charitable Trust Karen and Andrew Ritz • Galen and Ada Belle Spencer Foundation • Estate of Mr. John R. Starkey

PERFORMANCE SPONSORS Anonymous • Colorado Creative Industries • Mr. John Cullen • National Endowment for the Arts Deborah Hayes and James L. Martin • Chap and Ethel Hutcheson • Jon and Lynne Montague-Clouse Henry R. Schwier Charitable Fund advised by Robert Wiegand II • Dr. Sarah K. Scott and Mr. Kevin Kearney • Trask Family Foundation Mr. and Mrs. Robert A. Unger • Richard J. Wolfheim and Nancy K. Wolfheim Foundation • Dave and Mary Wood Fund

DIDO AND AENEAS | SYNOPSIS

Can humans’ passion weather their thirst for power?

WE ARE ALL BUT PLAYTHINGS OF THE GODS

SPRUNG FROM EPIC POETRY AND MYTH, Dido and Aeneas is a fascinating tale of power and passion between two formidable rulers and the Sorceress who toys with their fates.

Love between Dido Queen of Carthage and the Trojan hero Aeneas unfolds as tempestuously as the storm that brought them together. Shipwrecked on the shores of Carthage, en route to Troy, Aeneas takes refuge in Dido’s court. Attraction sparks quickly between the two political titans, but Dido is torn between desire and duty. At the advice of her Cupid-ish handmaid, Belinda, Dido finally, ardently agrees to Aeneas’ proposal of marriage. Just as the city and its queen settle into the bliss of the alliance, a conniving Sorceress rouses literal and political storms over Carthage, attempting to pry lover from lover and ruler from crown. Can humans’ passion weather their thirst for power?

DIDO AND AENEAS

IN HISTORY & MYTH

BY MARGARET SIEGRIST

Dido commands clear literary influence as an early female leader

THOUGH ITS PLOT AND CHARACTERS are shrouded in legend, Purcell’s Dido and Aeneas cuts a clean, relatable narrative that resonates powerfully today.

DIDO

ALSO KNOWN AS ELISSA, Dido’s origins trace from both history and mythology. The strongest account can be found in Virgil’s epic poem, The Aeneid. Regardless of whether she truly existed, she commands clear literary influence as an early female leader, and some sources even cite her as a goddess. Dido ruled over the North African city of Carthage, a crucial center for trade, widely regarded as one of the wealthiest cities in the ancient world. According to legend, she was not only the queen, but also the founder of this important settlement. Dido felt her responsibility to her people deeply, and they were equally dedicated to her.

DIDO AND AENEAS

AENEAS

Also known primarily from Virgil’s epic poem, Aeneas was a prince and hero of Troy descended from the goddess Venus. He appears in Greek mythology, making a cameo in the Iliad, but is more prominent in Roman tradition, where he features as an important ancestor of Romulus and Remus. Aeneas’ place in the founding of Rome propels his role in lore, taking precedence over his character trajectory and relationships. His concession to abandon love for Troy at the word of the gods is one of many examples in which the canon of Rome pervades Aeneas’ story.

Composer Henry Purcell and librettist Nahum Tate apply distinct perspective to their setting of Dido and Aeneas. Introducing the Sorceress, a supernatural force neither mortal nor divine, redefines the stakes in the eyes of the audience. The narrative then explores the interplay of attraction and obligation between two political titans, rather than focusing on their resignation to fate. Purcell and Tate plant a spirit disguised as Mercury, not a real god, to command Aeneas to leave Carthage and his queen. Though the messenger is false, Aeneas’ loyalties are revealed. Heartbroken, Dido is left imploring her people to remember her for her former glory, not the tragic fallout. Originally, Tate based the text of the opera on his play Brutus of Alba (The Enchanted Lovers), which accounts for some divergence from myth. It’s also likely that the opera was intended more symbolically than literally. Based on the librettist’s letters, scholars speculate that the opera allegorizes the “sorcery” of the Roman Catholic Church leading James II astray from the English people, as Aeneas is pulled away from Dido. By taking liberties with the myth, Tate and Purcell created a deeply human drama that was meaningful in their time and also seamlessly adapts to our own.

A supernatural force, neither mortal nor divine, redefines the stakes in the eyes of the audience

DIRECTOR’S NOTE: DAN WALLACE MILLER

“An early operatic masterpiece conceived in broad primary colors”

COMPOSER HENRY PURCELL’S ONLY FULL-LENGTH OPERA, DIDO AND AENEAS, is an early operatic masterpiece conceived in broad primary colors. Love strikes hard and fast, enmity flourishes at the simplest provocation, and, before you know it, tragedy erupts where tranquility was a second before.

Before Dido and Aeneas, Purcell was primarily a composer of “theater music,” songs and dances that would be added as supplement to pre-existing plays. These songs were sung by ancillary characters who would channel the thoughts and emotions of the principal performers for these asides. With Dido, Purcell had the opportunity to use his music to directly inhabit and affect a story, a story where emotion is placed paramount and immediate. Originally written to be performed at a girls’ boarding school, Dido and Aeneas is a story filled with adolescent fervor. Each emotion our lovers feel arises swiftly with the utmost sincerity, accompanied by some of the most moving and delicate music Purcell ever wrote. This angst, however, isn’t a detriment to the piece; it is essential. The tragedy of the opera is not just Dido’s fate, but rather, how rash and ill-considered it is. It’s through this lens that we’re approaching this masterwork at Central City Opera.

We watch as a group of young people spontaneously put on a show to explore their own emotions by performing the emotions of others, and we see the repercussions of play and performance unexpectedly invading reality.

billy budd, 2019. assistant director, dan wallace miller. photo by amanda tipton.

ABOUT DAN

BY MARGARET SIEGRIST

Dan Wallace Miller is making a name for himself as a sharp, young director mounting operas in diverse venues ranging from large theaters to non-traditional spaces. Known for fresh interpretations of older repertoire, Dan is a natural fit for Dido and Aeneas this Festival season.

Dan is known for pushing the boundaries of standard dramatic presentation. As Founder and Artistic Director of Vespertine Opera Theater, he’s been applauded for “Making opera unfamiliar again in all the best ways” (The Stranger). With Vespertine, Dan headed the U.S. premiere of Benjamin Britten’s adaptation for two pianos of Les mamelles de Tirésias (Francis Poulenc), the English opera staple The Rape of Lucretia (Benjamin Britten) and Heart Mountain (Sarah Mattox), a special commission based on stories from a Japanese internment camp. Whether he’s championing rarely-seen works, interpreting classics with modern flair or producing new opera, Dan infuses performances with his own distinctive voice.

Also at home in established theaters, Dan works with Seattle Opera regularly and has held the position of Assistant Director in Residence with the company. There, he’s helped bring to life both historical and contemporary repertoire. In 2017, he tackled The Combat, an enthusiastically-received update to Monteverdi’s 1600s opera Il combattimento di Tancredi e Clorinda. Described as an “immersive baroque pastiche,” the piece nabbed rave reviews from The Seattle Times, “For those who think opera is an antique, elitist art form with no connection to our own time, here is a show to change your mind,” and The Stranger, “A profound experience of theater.” In 2021, he even endeavored into directing for film on Seattle Opera’s star-studded, streamable production of Tosca.

Each season Central City Opera presents at least one piece outside the Opera House, often playing within the walls of the company’s many historic properties, local churches or rehearsal rooms. As part of this year’s outdoor Festival, Dido and Aeneas comes to the Opera House Gardens, a lush and charming space tucked between the Teller House and our beloved jewel-box theater in Central City. It’s rare that the company would mount a production in the Gardens. But with the clear mountain air and intimate seating, the gods are smiling on this idyllic theater opportunity born of safety necessity. In the hands of Dan Wallace Miller, Dido and Aeneas is sure to be a close encounter with myth and drama like none other.

dan wallace miller, 2019 festival. photo by amanda tipton.

DIDO AND AENEAS

seattle opera's the combat, 2017. photo by philip newton.