Purcell's Dido and Aeneas stands as the greatest operatic achievement of seventeenth-century England. Ellen Harris's comprehensive study examines the work in its historical and cultural context, with detailed coverage of contemporary performance practice and of the work's performance history and critical reception. The author examines the various surviving sources - all of which postdate the first performance by at least 80 years - and discusses their
inconsistencies with Nahum Tate's original libretto. A useful reference section includes a critical discography and appendices charting a historical survey of national premieres and of editions.
- ISBN10 0193152525
- ISBN13 9780193152526
- Publish Date 23 November 1989 (first published December 1987)
- Publish Status Active
- Out of Print 8 March 2021
- Publish Country GB
- Publisher Oxford University Press
- Imprint Clarendon Press
- Format Paperback
- Pages 196
- Language English