Diva/Mensch pair for June 4, 2025

The Best Opera Recording for 2001 went to Colin Davis's recording of Berlioz's epic opera Les Troyens. The two leading ladies in that show fall neatly into my beloved archetypes:

Diva: Cassandra

Mensch: Dido

Cassandra is the whacked out chick careening out of control. She's trying to tell people what's going on but they WILL NOT LISTEN. She knows she's right and they will not budge. It doesn't end well for her, or for anyone.

Dido is the suffering queen of Carthage - - she falls in love with Aeneas, the new kid in town. They do their thing for a while (probably on a fur rug) and then Aeneas is called away. Dido kills herself, in the grand manner.