Dido, also known as Elissa, was the legendary founder and first queen of the Phoenician city-state of Carthage, in 814 BC. In most accounts, she was the queen of the Phoenician city-state of Tyre who fled tyranny to found her own city in northwest Africa. Known only through ancient Greek and Roman sources, all of which were written well after Carthage's founding, her historicity remains uncertain. The oldest references to Dido are attributed to Timaeus, who was active around 300 BC, about five centuries after the date given for the foundation of Carthage.
Dido and Aeneas is an opera in a prologue and three acts, written by the English Baroque composer Henry Purcell with a libretto by Nahum Tate. The dates of the composition and first performance of the opera are uncertain. It was composed no later than July 1688, and had been performed at Josias Priest's girls' school in London by the end of 1689. Some scholars argue for a date of composition as early as 1683. The story is based on Book IV of Virgil's Aeneid. It recounts the love of Dido, Queen of Carthage, for the Trojan hero Aeneas, and her despair when he abandons her. A monumental work in Baroque opera, Dido and Aeneas is remembered as one of Purcell's foremost theatrical works. It was also Purcell's only true opera, as well as his only all-sung dramatic work. One of the earliest known English operas, it owes much to John Blow's Venus and Adonis, both in structure and in overall effect.
L'incoronazione di Poppea is an Italian opera by Claudio Monteverdi. It was Monteverdi's last opera, with a libretto by Giovanni Francesco Busenello, and was first performed at the Teatro Santi Giovanni e Paolo in Venice during the 1643 carnival season. One of the first operas to use historical events and people, it describes how Poppaea, mistress of the Roman emperor Nero, is able to achieve her ambition and be crowned empress. The opera was revived in Naples in 1651, but was then neglected until the rediscovery of the score in 1888, after which it became the subject of scholarly attention in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Since the 1960s, the opera has been performed and recorded many times.
L'Ormindo is an opera in a prologue and three acts by Francesco Cavalli to an original Italian libretto by Giovanni Faustini. The manuscript score is held at the Biblioteca Marciana in Venice, while a copy of the original libretto has been digitized by the Library of Congress. The opera has set numbers with recitative, and is set in Anfa (Casablanca), in the Mauri kingdom of Fessa (Fez).
La Calisto is an Italian opera by Francesco Cavalli from a libretto by Giovanni Faustini based on the mythological story of Callisto.
Didone abbandonata is an opera, or dramma per musica, by Giuseppe Sarti, set to a libretto by the renowned poet Metastasio. The opera was first performed in the winter of 1762 in Copenhagen, and was composed especially for the Danish court of the time. The opera consists of three acts, and the libretto is based upon the well-known story of Dido and Aeneas.
Count Nicolò Minato was an Italian poet, librettist and impresario. His career can be divided into two parts: the years he spent at Venice, from 1650 to 1669, and the years at Vienna, from 1669 until his death.
Il Xerse, usually written Xerse, is an Italian opera by Francesco Cavalli about Xerxes I. The libretto was written by Nicolò Minato and was later set by both Giovanni Bononcini and George Frideric Handel. Minato's plot outline is loosely based on Book 7 of Herodotus's Histories. The opera, consisting of a prologue and three acts, was composed in 1654 and first performed on 12 January 1655 at the Teatro SS. Giovanni e Paolo in Venice. It was dedicated to the Ferrarese nobleman Marchese Cornelio Bentivoglio.
Gli amori d'Apollo e di Dafne is an opera by the Italian composer Francesco Cavalli. It was Cavalli's second operatic work and was premiered at the Teatro San Cassiano, Venice during the Carnival season of 1640. The libretto is by Giovanni Francesco Busenello and is based on the story of the god Apollo's love for the nymph Daphne as told in Ovid's Metamorphoses.
Statira principessa di Persia is an opera – more specifically, a dramma per musica – in a prologue and three acts by Francesco Cavalli, set to a libretto by Giovanni Francesco Busenello. The opera was first performed in Venice at the Teatro SS. Giovanni e Paolo, on 18 January 1656.
Giovanni Francesco Busenello was an Italian lawyer, librettist and poet of the 17th century.
Ciro (Cyrus), also written Il Ciro, is a 1653 Italian drama per musica (opera) in a prologue and three acts with music by Francesco Provenzale and a libretto by Giulio Cesare Sorrentino. The story concerns the Persian king Cyrus the Great. The opera was probably first performed during Carnival of that year at the Teatro San Bartolomeo in Naples, in a production by Giovan Battista Balbi.
Giovanni Faustini was an Italian librettist and opera impresario of the 17th century. He is best remembered for his collaborations with the composer Francesco Cavalli.
Artemisia is an opera in three acts and a prologue by the Italian composer Francesco Cavalli from a libretto written by Nicolò Minato. It was first performed at the Teatro San Giovanni e San Paolo, Venice on 10 January 1657 and revived in Naples in 1658, Palermo in 1659, Milan in 1663 and Genoa in 1665.
Didon (Dido) is a tragédie lyrique in three acts by the composer Niccolò Piccinni with a French-language libretto by Jean-François Marmontel. The opera is based on the story of Dido and Aeneas from Virgil's Aeneid as well as Metastasio's libretto Didone abbandonata. Didon was first performed at Fontainebleau on 16 October 1783 in the presence of the French sovereigns, Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette. After being remounted at court twice, the opera had its Paris public premiere on 1 December 1783. It proved to be the composer's greatest success and was billed almost every year till 1826, enjoying a total of 250 performances al the Paris Opera. Didon had some influence on Berlioz's opera on the same theme, Les Troyens.
Didone abbandonata was an opera in three acts composed by Tomaso Albinoni. Albinoni's music was set to Pietro Metastasio's libretto, Didone abbandonata, which was in turn based on the story of Dido and Aeneas from the fourth book of Virgil's Aeneid. The opera premiered on 26 December 1724 at the Teatro San Cassiano in Venice and was the first time that an opera based on a Metastasio libretto was performed in Venice.
Dido, Queen of Carthage was an opera in three acts by Stephen Storace. Its English libretto by Prince Hoare was adapted from Metastasio's 1724 libretto, Didone abbandonata, which had been set by many composers. Storace's opera premiered on 23 May 1792 at The King's Theatre in London combined with a performance of his masque, Neptune's Prophecy. The story is based on that of Dido and Aeneas in the fourth book of Virgil's Aeneid. The opera was not a success and was never revived after its original run of performances. The score has been lost.
Didone abbandonata is an opera in three acts composed by Domenico Sarro to a libretto by Pietro Metastasio of the same name which was based on the story of Dido and Aeneas from the fourth book of Virgil's Aeneid. The opera premiered on 1 February 1724 at the Teatro San Bartolomeo in Naples.
The Teatro Novissimo was a theatre in Venice located in the Campo Santi Giovanni e Paolo with its entrance on the Calle de Mendicanti. It was the first theatre built in Venice specifically for the performance of opera. Because it was purpose-built, it had a wider stage than its existing competitors which allowed for the elaborate productions which became the Novissimo's hallmark. The theatre opened in the Carnival season of 1641 with the premiere of Sacrati's opera La finta pazza. After its last production in 1645, the theatre was closed amidst mounting debts and was demolished in 1647.
