Francesco Cavalli, La Didone (1641)

Wikipedia insists that this is just called Didone, but dammit, the DVD box and the credits (in BOTH of them; there are two different filmed versions) are very clear that there's a "La" there. The Dido. Deal with it.

Is this the first opera about Dido and Aeneas? Maybe so! Interestingly enough, it's structurally weird in exactly the same way that Les Troyens is structurally weird: the first act concerns the fall of Troy and all the suffering that that entails, and then the second and third actually involve Dido. That's what you might think, BUT! Dido doesn't die: instead, she gets together with her other suitor, Iarbas, who had been mooning over her for two acts. He's kind of whiney and petulant--but in his favor, at least he isn't trying to sell a cock-and-bull story about how I've gotta go because, uh, the gods want me to go be king of Italy. Really. You just missed them. They were really serious about it. Who's gonna buy THAT one? Anyway, even if this is just a brief rebound fling for Dido, it still seems more emotionally healthy than offing herself. I'm glad to see something going right for her for once. Hey, I know PERFECTLY WELL what the original story is! I've read the Aeneid! I've seen both Dido and Aeneas AND Les Troyens! You don't have to tell me!

I liked this the best out of the Cavalli operas I've seen so far. The first act, I think, is the best: Dido may get a happy ending, but Aeneas' first wife Creusa sure doesn't, or Hecuba, or Cassandra, or Cassandra's suitor Coroebus. They don't have dramatic arcs per se, which does make it feel a bit choppy, but they do all have really good dramatic arias. Maybe I'd be into an overall more serious Cavalli opera. Also, in spite of not dying, Dido has some very good singing preparatory to what WOULD be the dying part if she did.

As I said, there are two versions, but I saw this one. it's fine. To be honest, both Claron McFadden as Dido and Magnus Staveland as Aeneas are sort of wooden, but this is more of an ensemble piece than you might think, and it's ultimately fine. The other one, being from Les Arts Florissants, might be better, but whatevs.