Dido and Aeneas

Henry Purcell’s *Dido and Aeneas* is a compact English Baroque opera that sets Virgil’s tragic episode of Dido, Queen of Carthage, and the Trojan exile Aeneas, whose departure leaves her undone. Written in the late 1680s to a libretto by Nahum Tate, it stands out for being fully sung, with choruses and dances integrated into the drama. In New York, it has long functioned as a repertory touchstone for early-music and contemporary-stage directors rather than a fixed “premiere” title. At BAM, its spare structure makes the emotional architecture unusually clear.