La Nébuleuse / Gabriel Rignol

Cast: 7 artists (3 singers - harp - viola da gamba - organ and/or harpsichord - theorbo)

Dido Furens is a ‘dialogue in three voices’ taken from Domenico Mazzocchi's Dialoghi e Sonetti posti in Musica, published in Rome in 1638. This collection features musical settings of passages from literary masterpieces by various authors, both ancient and more contemporary, including Virgil, Le Tasse and Giorgio Aldobrandini.

Here, the excerpt in Latin is taken from the fourth book of Virgil's Eneide, and relates the entire passage between the moment when Dido learns of Aeneas' imminent departure and the moment when she takes her own life. Mazzocchi may well have heard these verses recited in the popular theatres of Rome, before deciding to set them to music, thus creating a kind of miniature opera, little scenes that remain a field of expression to be explored.

Andrea FALCONIERI
La Suave Melodia

Domenico MAZZOCCHI
Volga al ciel
Lagrime Amare
O che dolce mirare

Joannes HIERONIMUS KAPSGERBER
Canarios & Sfessaina

Domenico MAZZOCCHI
Amorose Catene

Joannes HIERONIMUS KAPSGERBER
Toccata Prima

Domenico MAZZOCCHI
Dido Furens