From patriotism to alterity Charting the Australian experience of Purcell's Dido and Aeneas

Abstract

This chapter adopts a four-part structure: first, it highlights the emotions explored in the opera Dido and Aeneas; second, it contextualises how Purcell’s opera has been performed and received in Australia over one century; third, it provides an example of a broader relationship between Australia, classical music and its British heritage as experienced through this earliest of English operas; fourth, it explores what a modern day production of the opera offered senior high school students, in terms of emotion, music, stage knowledge and experience.