Dido's Lament
Post categories: Rick Jones
| 16:12 UK time, Monday, 15 June 2009
have been reading an entertaining novel called Dido's Lament by Peter Stickland, published by 77 Books which appears to be the author's own company. It fantasises an account of the first performance of Purcell's Dido and Aeneas in no particular year. The first-person narrator is Nahum Tate, Purcell's librettist, who records the made-up events in the present tense. Stickland has the premiere coincide with both the opening of Josias Priest's school (which recent research suggests was not the case) and Purcell's marriage to Frances Pieters (which in reality took place some years before).
Still, the evolving love-drama gives the plot momentum and Stickland handles it deftly after a slow start. There is tension in the subplot involving Nahum and his mistress, who rebuffs his advances but welcomes his professional help. Stickland leaves the identity of this profession to be inferred and it is not what the reader initially thinks. The ups and downs in the relationships are cleverly matched to the twists in the opera as Purcell and Tate write them.
Tate's voice is constant, delivering all the dialogue so that the characters speak only through his filter. His tone is contemporary which contrasts with the 17th century English of his original libretto. One character is 'trying to scrounge some costumes' and Purcell himself tells the narrator to 'give me some words' for the tune he has just written for the eponymous lament. Stickland fantasises that the aria's composition was inspired by a near-death experience for Purcell, a presage of his actual death a decade later. He falls off a roof, drunk.
Stickland tells a good story, though it could do with some paring down. The present tense gives the flow of events an entertaining urgency, like the commentary of a horse-race, but there are longueurs in the amount of theatrical detail given and various red herring scenes. Does Purcell have to explain his conducting technique? The novel works best when mirroring the agonies of love thrown up by the opera in the personal lives of the two men creating it and one relishes the coming together of characters and events at the denouement of the last act premiere. Who knows, there may even be a play in it.
~RS~q~RS~~RS~z~RS~33~RS~)
Comments
Many years ago, Rick, my parents took me to see a play in Greenwich, called 'Handling Bach', based upon an imaginary meeting between the two German composers. Here is a review in 'The Independent'.
http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/handling-bach-greenwich-theatre-london-theatre-1596705.html
Although it did not capture the musical 'Zeitgeist' in the way 'Amadeus' did, it was an interesting experiment, and I see no reason why a compelling narrative for Henry Purcell could not also be transformed into a Hollywood blockbuster.
Perhaps you should get on (the) line to Steven Spielberg this morning, Rick. Cheers! c.
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I have read and loved Peter Stickland's book Didos Lament. it is a fascinating story, beautifully and inventively told. The leading characters are vividly described and I think this book would be able to be turned into a wonderful play or better still a film. imagine the the joy of weaving the music into the colourful scenes.
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Dido's Lament is a wonderful novel, with a rhythm and flow all of it's own. I feel you are a little harsh re descriptions of technique and theatrical descriptions, as not everyone shares the background knowledge that you clearly demonstrate, and I felt they help give an insight into something that must have been truly revolutionary at the time.
As someone with a limited knowledge of the subject I found the novel to be a truly magical read from beginning to end.
I await his next publication with anticipation.
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Dear Rick Jones
Thank you for your review of Dido’s Lament – you are the first to write one and I felt elevated by your appreciative remarks. The beginning was slow and there were moments of longueur and for this reason I am re-editing it for the second edition. I have radically altered the structure - creating short chapters to make the whole more visible - and I have honed the sound of the prose, now written in the third person, which either increases the speed of the commentary or the horse-race!
I am delighted that others are commenting on it. Feedback is the best thing. I have no expertise for writing either play or film scripts, but if anyone would like a stab at it I would be delighted to assist.
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I just loved reading Peter Stickland's novel Didos Lament. I thought the characters were very beautifully described and the story fascinating. I couldn't stop reading it once I started - parts of it made me cry and/or laugh. I agree with colourfulreader that this novel could be turned into a wonderful film. Can't wait for it!
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I loved Peter Stickland's novel, Dido's Lament; found it both cleverly inventive and informative. I found other readers' comments interesting and look forward to reading the 2nd edition.
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I've just finished Dido's Lament and found it delightful. Opera for the rest of us; Purcell, one of a short list of British composers and a long term favourite, unravelled and explained in an illuminating and vital prose, more please, how about Vaughan Williams next?
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