"The Strain" Creeps Down The Baroque Opera Path Of Purcell

The young Abraham begs forgiveness for taking the life of his true love after he left her to seek The Master.

As previously discussed, The Strain on FX continues to include opera as part of the show's drama. Episode 12, "Last Rites," aired September 28, 2014, with the climax featuring an excerpt from Henry Purcell's only all-sung dramatic work, Dido and Aeneas. The piece "When I am laid in Earth" plays under the scene of a present, and past, beheading of loved ones fallen prey to the strain. More commonly known as "Dido's Lament," the aria truly expresses the dictionary definition of the word: "la·ment verb \lə-ˈment\: to express sorrow, regret, or unhappiness about something." The music begins as viewers realize that Nora (Mia Maestro) must decapitate her

Present-day Abraham bids farewell to his love.

mother Mariela (Anne Betancourt) as she has recently been turned by Gabriel (Jack Kesy) in an attack on the pawn shop. As the swell of the music increases, we travel in a flashback to 1967 as a younger Abraham (Jim Watson) is faced with having to execute his wife Miriam and their children since they too have been turned and are ready to kill him. As her lifeless body lays on the floor, Abraham takes a knife and cuts her open to remove her heart, which now resides in a jar filled with fluid in the basement of the pawn shop. As Eichorst (Richard Sammel) infiltrates the pawn shop and seeks to execute Abraham, he is forced to leave the only remaining thing in this world that he truly loves: Miriam's heart. As you read the synopsis of Purcell's opera, it is easy to see the parallels to the story line of the show: Miriam as Dido, Abraham as Aeneas, Eichorst as Spirit (née Mercury), and The Master as The Sorcerer. Even the closing lines of the opera after Dido's death include the theme of heart: "The chorus and orchestra conclude the opera by ordering the 'cupids to scatter roses on her tomb, soft and gentle as her heart. Keep here your watch, and never never never part.'" If the show wanted to get a bit creepier,  perhaps they could have used Symphony #4 "Chiaroscuro" by Gloria Coates which samples the theme of Purcell's aria in a much darker way. Watch the full episode of The Strain by clicking here. More information about Dido and Aeneas, as well as a video performance of Jessye Norman performing "Dido's Lament," can be found after the jump. [Source]

Thomas Eichorst looks down on what has been Miriam's tomb and Abraham's safeguard.

American soprano Jessye Norman as Dido in a costume
designed by Pet Halmen for the l'Opéra de Paris
 (Photo: Zoë Dominic)

DIDO'S LAMENT
"The opening recitative secco, 'Thy hand, Belinda,' is accompanied by continuo only. Word painting is applied on the text 'darkness' and 'death' which is presented with chromaticism, symbolic of death. 'Dido's Lament' opens with a descending chromatic fourth line, the ground bass, which is repeated eleven times throughout the aria, thus structuring the piece in the form of a ciaccona. The meter is 3/2 in the key of G minor. Henry Purcell has applied word painting on the words 'laid,' which is also given a descending chromatic line portraying death and agony, and 'Remember me,' which is presented in a syllabic text setting and repeated with its last presentation leaping in register with a sudden crescendo displaying her desperate cry with urgency as she prepares for her fate: death. In one interpretation Dido's relationship with Aeneas is portrayed in this moment as an 'apocalyptic romance.' The text, and the Purcell opera are alluding to the Roman legend of the Aeneid, the story of a Trojan Warrior Aeneas, seeking Italy in order to settle there and secure his son's lineage. Aeneas is blown off course from Sicily, and lands on the shores of Northern Africa, in Carthage, a recently settled city of former Tyrians. Their queen is Dido, with whom Aeneas has a love affair, before departing for Italy and leaving Dido alone. She becomes so distraught that she orders for a large pyre to be placed, on which she plans to impale herself, and be set ablaze so that Aeneas will see from his ship. This is perhaps the most poignant part of the legend, and ends at the culmination of Book IV." [Source]

Mark Morris Tells Gerard Mortier He Would Rather Watch Opera

Opera Talk: Gerard Mortier [left] makes a point in discussion with Mark Morris.
(Photo: Gloria Nieto/The Globe and Mail)

"It was Mortier, in a previous incarnation as director of the Brussels opera, La Monnaie, who hired a younger Morris to replace his then outgoing director of dance, Maurice Bejart. And it was in Brussels in the late-1980s and early-1990s that Morris created several of his most famous dances, including L’Allegro, The Hard Nut, and Dido and Aeneas. That work, he later confesses, made it easier to re-establish himself in the United States. Morris’s work always begins with the music. 'What a lot of people do is make up a dance,' he explains. 'What I do, in the old-fashioned sense, is go from a piece of music that I love and imagine that I won’t tire of very soon, analyze the score, think about it, and make up a dance with my company.' He adds that he’d rather go to see opera than see dance, 'because if I’m super familiar with someone’s dance work and if I don’t like it, I don’t need to go back. And I won’t go see a three-hour ballet if it only has 10 minutes of good dancing. But I go to the Met [New York’s Metropolitan Opera] a lot.'" [Source]

Roman Bath Setting For Purcell's Dido and Aeneas