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Logo Concertgebouw Brugge

Topstuk Purcell

Topstuk Purcell

Dido and Aeneas

- Purcells Dido and Aeneas – his only opera without any spoken text – was performed in 1689 by the 'young gentlewomen' of Josias Priest’s Chelsea School. It has since been reprised countless times in all sorts of forms, including with a man in the role of Sorceress
- Dido’s lament 'When I am Laid in Earth' – the bassline of which is already enough to give you goosebumps – is one of the most famous arias in music history
- originally Dido and Aeneas had an allegorical prologue to music. The score for this has been lost. It also originally had a spoken epilogue

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