Sestina tour of '˜Dido and Aeneas'

Award-winning music ensemble Sestina will present the production '˜Dido and Aeneas' to audiences Londonderry, on Friday, April 1 at 7.30pm in The Glassworks.
By The Newsroom
Published 23rd Mar 2016, 19:00 BST

Following successful tours of ‘The Fairy Queen’ and ‘King Arthur’, the group continues its exploration of Henry Purcell’s semi-operas, this time tackling the tragic tale of doomed lovers in Dido and Aeneas. To complement this unfinished story, music from Matthew Locke’s Psyche will form a prologue to preface the drama to follow.

Sestina will again collaborate with esteemed stage director Thomas Guthrie and dancer and choreographer Bridget Madden. The singers will be accompanied by a group of experienced period instrument players and conducted by musical director Mark Chambers.

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Dido and Aeneas is the ill-fated love story between Dido, Queen of Carthage, and the Trojan hero Aeneas. After an initial whirlwind romance, Aeneas is called into battle and Dido’s despair at his departure manifests itself in the heart-wrenching aria ‘When I am laid in earth’.

Purcell weaves this story of love and loss through incredible music from a range of characters including witches, sailors, echoes, handmaidens and a fiendish sorceress intent on destruction. A musical feast for the senses and a highly theatrical first opera from one of the greatest British composers of all time.

Tour dates:

Further information and tickets is available online at www.sestinamusic.com.