SB John Temple from the Cape Cod Troop of Silverbacks contributed this entry:
Thought you might be interested in this 7-minute video clip I played for last week’s class in my current course for the Academy of Lifelong Learning here on the Cape. It contains a spectacular performance of the intense final scene from Henry Purcell’s opera Dido and Aeneas, written in 1689.
The plot is as follows: Dido takes a vial of poison after being forsaken by Aeneas, who has been bewitched by sorcerers helped by the god Mercury. She then summons her attendants (“Thy hand, Belinda”) and pours out her grief with an impassioned plea to “Remember me, but forget my fate.”
The opera’s in English, so you should be able to get most of the words. But if you have trouble, the French subtitles in this video may help.
At any rate, it’s beautifully sung, emotionally compelling, and in excellent HD video:
And something unrelated, but totally relevant. The woman who sang the role of Dido … is Greta Thunberg’s mother.
