Opera Essay Assignment

Siobhain Nolan

1/9/19

FMX211

Opera Essay Assignment

The opera Dido and Aeneas was written by Henry Percell in the 1680’s, and depicts the story of Dido; the Queen of Carthage’s love and despair for Aeneas; a Trojan hero. In the story Dido is distressed about her love for Aenneas, and is comforted by Belinda to who suggests the marriage of the two could be a solution to her grief. Dido accepts Aenneas’ marriage proposal, but is sabotaged by the sorcerer who constructs a plan that will lead Aenneas to sail to Italy. Aennaeas accepts the task from what he thinks are the gods, even though it means leaving Dido. When Dido learns of Aenneases plans for leaving her she is heartbroken. Even when he pleads that he will stay she is unable to bare the thought that he was capable of leaving her in the first place and rejects him. Aeneas then leaves Dido, ultimately causing Dido’s death in his absence.

 The scenes in this opera were constructed with elaborate sets, with the use of ambient smoke and fire. The dark lighting on stage helps to portray the deep emotions in the scene and emphasize the overall drama. The detailed costumes of Dido and Aenneas caused the audience to be focused on them throughout the different scenes and portray them as more important than the other characters in the scene. Similarly, the dark, feathery costume of the sorcerer helped to portray her as a bad character and evoke an evil feeling. The use of the weather change when the storm hit the town caused an uneasy feeling which lead to the suspense of the next scene. The advancement in technology allowed the storm scene to appear as if an actual storm was taking place with the use of wind and props flying. The use of background music in the film allows the audience to better understand what the mood of the scene is which ranges from joyful upbeat music to slow depressing music.

This piece was important in the chronology of opera because it added elements into the setting to create a more life-like feel. In one scene in particular the ships being used were real, rather than props just being placed on stage. This element is more similar to a future film rather than the typical opera at the time. Similarly, the real fire used on stage really helped to create a more lifelike feeling. The use of different sets in this film gave the sense that it was an opera occurring in multiple different settings. At the time audiences were most likely taken back by how realistic the piece was and how well the emotions of the characters were able to be portrayed by this drama. The lifelike feel of this piece most likely caused the audience to feel like they were apart of what was going on in the film since it was more relatable than watching a more fictional piece with unrealistic props. These elements show advancements in the way operas were being produced which eventually lead to the films being produced today.

 If I were to turn this piece into a video game I would turn it into a game similar to the singing version of rock band, only being allowed to pass to the next level if you pass the song.  This would connect the opera aspect of the piece to the video game itself. There would be different scenes and stories incorporated into passing each level. If the first level song was passed this would represent Dido accepting Aenneas’ marriage proposal, if the player fails the first level she would reject him leaving him heartbroken. Moving on to the second level the songs will increase in difficulty and portray the scenes of the sorcerers. If this level is passed it will show Aenneas denying Mercury’s proposition to sail to Italy, if failed he will accept the offer and die in a shipwreck on his journey. The third and final level will be the most difficult of the songs to pass. If the level is failed it will show Dido learning of Aenneas thoughts of leaving her, causing her to die of a broken heart. If the final song is beaten it will show the scene of Dido and Aenneas overcoming these obstacles and living happily together. The video game songs would be versions of the songs that were in the actual opera with a newer remix to them, which would emphasize how much technology has changed in today’s generation.