Figure of Dido in French Drama and French Music

Here for the first time, the various French treatments of Dido’s tragic story in both drama and music, most of which are little known today, are brought together, examined, compared, and evaluated. In Virgil’s Aeneid, the evocation of Dido’s great and fateful passion had an impact that has continued to reverberate over two millennia. Among the vast array of artistic creations that Dido has inspired are a number of French tragedies and musical works from the sixteenth to the twentieth centuries. This study embraces different genres and spans several centuries, demonstrates the commonalities between the works, and reveals the individuality and uniqueness of each interpretation. This study first looks at the broader European context before the French dramas, cantatas and operas are each analyzed in detail. What emerges is that there is indeed a myriad of ways to tell and interpret a story. The various interpretations show an intriguing and sometimes surprising degree of individuality on the part of these writers and composers.