Dido and Aeneas is one of Henry Purcell’s most beloved operas. Divas and directors flock to the opera stages of the world to revive the fateful encounter between Queen Dido and the hero Aeneas. They are both mighty and powerful, but as humans they are also vulnerable and therefore easy targets for the will of the gods. And even though the highlight of the opera undoubtedly is the divine aria “Dido’s lament”, there is much more to come for.
The British composer created Dido in the late 1600s, however, parts of the opera no longer exist. Perhaps that is the reason Dido and Aeneas seems so timeless! The fragments and the gaps in the storyline leave the opera very open for modern and strong interpretations.
The story takes its starting point in the tragic epos The Aeneid by the Roman poet Vergil. A story about the hero Aeneas on his quest to find a new Kingdom after having lost the battle of Troy. Purcell’s Dido and Aeneas, however, is more interested in the thrilling moment when Queen Dido meets Aeneas and fatally falls in love with him. The question is, will they defy their fate and follow their own free will, or must they give in to the will of the gods?
On the production
Together with his orchestra Barokksolistene violinist Bjarte Eike is back in Esbjerg, and as you may already know it is never business as usual when these incredible musicians enter the stage. In this production they will inhabit the stage alongside the singers and add authentic tunes to the feasts and dances as well as the fatal and final goodbye. As a meaningful contrast to the tragic love story, the opera is also populated by sailors singing sea shanties, people dancing and witches and sorcerers making prophecies.
The Norwegian director Erlend Samnøen will string all the details together and form a gripping and entertaining story. His professional background is in ballet, but today he appears as a director of many innovative opera- and theatre productions, particularly on Norway. In 2019 he made a very successful production together with Bjarte Eike and Barokksolistene of Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream at Haugesund Theatre, Norway. Like in this production, the fearless musicians populated the stage, challenging the norms and expectations to what role a musician can play.
In addition to eight handpicked young singers, mainly from Britain, Queen Dido is sung and played by the British shooting star Mary Bevan. In her homeland she is famous for “dramatic with and vocal control”. Mary will undoubtedly leave you breathless. She has won many awards already and her busy calendar reveals her love for early music, but her carrier spans across oratorios by Bach and Händel, song by Kurt Weill and Alban Berg, as well as the role as Eurydike i Glucks opera Orfeus og Eurydike and Margana in Alcina, a production that has just won the Oliver Award I England. You can listen to her sing “”Lascia la Spina” here, if you like.
