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A new generation of opera singers will tour the Netherlands in a joint production by Opera Zuid, De Nationale Opera and the Nederlandse Reisopera with a Purcell program at the heart of which is the short opera Dido and Aeneas. This historically informed performance of music over three hundred years old is musically led by the young Baroque specialist Camille Delaforge.
Based on Virgil’s Aeneid, Purcell created a moving drama about the Trojan hero Aeneas and his love affair with the Carthaginian Queen Dido, thwarted by witchcraft. While the sails of the boat on which Aeneas leaves Carthage disappear like dots on the horizon, Dido’s world-famous lament sounds. “Remember me but forget my fate,” she sings, as she faces her death and calls on everyone to remember everything about her, except her tragic end.
In addition to Dido and Aeneas (1688), Saul and the Witch of Endor (1693) is another work by Purcell on the program in which witchcraft plays a major role. In this work, the Biblical King Saul, who has banned fortune-telling, enlists the help of a witch who can predict the future, only to discover that his own end is approaching.
Talent and development The young artists of the National Opera Studio delve into Purcell’s enchanting baroque repertoire. The Netherlands Chamber Orchestra is under the inspired leadership of Camille Delaforge. For the basso continuo she brings along musicians from her own ensemble Il Caravaggio. Star soprano and artistic director of DNO Studio Rosemary Joshua is directing. The talents of the DNO Young Baroque Voices, consisting of promising young choristers, are responsible for the choral parts.
Opera in three acts in semi-concertante performance, sung in English with Dutch surtitles.
Dido and Aeneas is a co-production of Opera Zuid, Dutch National Opera and the Dutch Reisopera and part of the collaboration between the three opera companies to stimulate talent development.
