Didon and Énée do fall in love, though without ever touching during their duet “Nuit d’ivresse.” But he, hearing voices and teeming with toxic masculinity, hubristically leaves for Rome. Fade to black — but then the lights come on: In what seems like a typical Tcherniakov move, Didon appears not to have died at all. The role-playing exercise instead continues, with the chorus narrating Didon’s climactic funeral pyre and the birth of Rome. But Didon seems a bit out of sync with the crowd — woozy, fading. The pills were real after all; she collapses as the score comes to its mighty end.

Source: New York Times February 01, 2019 20:57 UTC