This week, I want you to experience a complete Baroque opera! (Don’t worry – it’s only about an hour long.)
Henry Purcell’s opera Dido and Aeneas is considered by many one of the greatest operas in the repertoire. Please do some initial investigation of the piece before watching it: read a couple articles about the opera itself, research the plot (a.k.a. the “synopsis”), then gain an understanding of Purcell, his style and how he fits into the general scheme of the Baroque era. [This Naxos recording will be useful to see the names of the different sections of the opera: cat.# 8.553108. – listen here with your Naxos subscriiption and you can see the tracks.]
After watching the entire opera here, https://youtu.be/jweNnjeY-Q0 (Or here https://youtu.be/A7W4czEtk-o — a semi-staged version including subtitles) write a paper (2-3 pages) detailing your experience, including your initial research into the materials. Please utilize as much of the textbook terminology as you can, and explain how the concepts you learned in the book did (or did not?) enhance your enjoyment of this masterpiece. Please write your paper in MLA style and cite at least two sources (in addition to our textbook). Use www.research.lesley.edu to find materials – I found the most information searching the “Credo Reference” and on JSTOR (Advanced search, under the Articles check box). This is partly a “research” paper, but mostly a “reaction” paper – please make this a very personal statement about your experience with this project. Since this is a theater work, feel free to comment on the musical and visual aspects of the piece. And don’t feel like you have to like and enjoy the experience, just be honest and able to describe and justify your reactions. Have fun!
