Name: Dido and Aeneas
Start: 2023-08-19T00:00:00.000Z
End: 2023-08-21T00:00:00.000Z
Location: Musikhuset

Organization

Conductor

Bjarte Eike

Stage director

Erlend Samnøen

Set designer

Signe Krogh

Lighting designer

Michael Breiner

Singer

Soprano

Mary Bevan

Dido

Rowan Pierce

Belinda

Elspeth Piggott

soprano

Martha McLorinan

mezzo-soprano

Eva B. Landro

Rory Carver

tenor

James Botcher

Frederick Long

Bass-Baritone

Sam Gilliatt

Violin

Flora Curzon

Hans Knut Sveen

Harpsichord

Per Buhre

Viola

Fredrik Bock

Guitar

Judith Maria Blomsterberg

Cello

Den Ny Opera

Orchestra

Barokksolistene

Dido and Aeneas

Esbjerg

Denmark

Musikhuset

Koncertsalen

Dido and Aeneas Purcell

Public

Approved

Accordionist

Instrumentalist

Archlutenist

Baroque Flutist

Baroque Oboist

Baroque Trumpetist

Bassist

Bassoonist

Cellist

Clarinetist

Contrabassist

Cornettist

Flutist

Guitarist

Harper

Harpsichordist

Hornist

Lutenist

Mandoline Player

Musette de cour Player

Oboist

Organist

Percussionist

Pianist

Recorder Player

Saxophonist

Tenor Violinist

Timpani

Trombonist

Trumpeter

Tuba Player

Vibraphonist

Viola Pomposa Player

Viola da gamba

Viola d’amore Player

Violinist

Violino Piccolo Player

Violist

Actor

Broadcasting

Chefdirigent Musiktheater

Choir

Choreographer

Chorus Director

Chorus master

Composer

Costume designer

Dancer

Dramaturge

Executive producer

Extra

Hairstylist

Illustrator

Librettist

Makeup artist

Orchestra Operations

Other

Photographer

Poet

Repetiteur

Sound designer

Stage Manager

Teacher

Translator

Video designer

Vocal coach

Wig & Makeup Designer

Writer

Writing and performance

Mezzo-soprano

Baritone

Bass

Contralto

Countertenor

Tenor

Bass-baritone

Alto

Child vocalist

Continuo

Silent

Spoken

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.

English

Operaen Dido og Æneas er kendt som Purcells absolutte hit. På alle verdens operascener flokkes divaer og dristige instruktører om det skæbnesvangre møde mellem Dronningen Dido og helten Æneas. De er begge både magtfulde og magtbegærlige, men som sårbare mennesker også lette for drilske guder at lege med. Og selvom højdepunktet uden tvivl er den gudesmukke arie ”Didos klage”, så er der meget mere at komme efter!

Den engelsk komponist Henry Purcell skrev operaen i slutningen af 1600-tallet – men dele af værket findes ikke længere. Måske derfor er Dido og Æneas tidløs! De tomme pladser giver mulighed for store variationer, så den kan blive et drama vi også i dag kan spejle os i.

Fortællingen tager sit udspring i den romerske digter Vergils store epos Aeneiden, som dog mest fokuserer på Æneas, helten, der efter Trojas fald drager mod Italien for at grundlægge et nyt storrige – Rom. Purcells opera interesserer sig dog hverken for krigen i Troja, tabet af den, for den farefulde rejse over Middelhavet eller for erobringen af den nye verden: den interesserer sig for Dronning Dido – for det øjeblik hvor hun møder og forelsker sig i Æneas. Deres skæbner flettes sammen for en stund for atter at blive revet fra hinanden igen.

OM Den Ny Operas opsætning:
Bjarte Eike er med sit orkester Barokksolistene tilbage i Esbjerg, og som sædvanligt er intet som det plejer at være, når de går på scenen. For på scenen kommer de! Musikerne vil i denne opsætning indgå som skikkelser i fortællingen og levere autentiske klange til både festen og den frygtede afsked. Det giver god mening, for nok handler Dido og Æneas om mytiske heltes stormfulde forelskelse, men den rummer også en festlig og farlig samklang af sømandssange, danse og hekse og troldkvinder, der spår. Det garanterer Barokksolistene, der bla. med deres Alehouse Sessions gennem et årti har sat ild til den klassiske musikscene. Hør her deres version af arien ”Oft She Visits” fra Dido og Aeneas på deres senest CD.

Forestillingens mange tråde vil den norske instruktør Erlend Samnøen samle til en både gribende og underholdende fortælling. Han har sin professionelle baggrund i ballet, men står i dag som instruktør bag nytænkende teater- og operaopsætninger på scener som Nationaltheatret og Black Box teater i Oslo og Operaen i Kristiansund. Eike og Samnøen oplevede for øvrigt stor succes med deres opsætningen af Shakespeares En Midsommernats Drøm i 2019 på Haugesund Teater i Norge, og fik følgende ord med på vejen i en anmeldelse i NRK:

”Det som imponerer mest, er hvor lett og naturlig musikken får være drivkraft i det som skjer. Hver frase har en karakter, en følelse, et temperament og en vilje. Kvaliteten på det barokksolistene og Bjarte Eike gjør er skyhøy og lekende lett på samme tid.” (nrk.no/anmeldelse)

Dronning Dido synges af den engelsk stjernesopran Mary Bevan, som i hjemlandet er berømt for sit ”dramatic wit and vocal control”. Mary vil uden tvivl tage alle med storm. Hun har vundet flere priser og hendes travle kalender vidner om en forkærlighed for tidlig musik, men også en utroligt stor spændvidde som sanger fra oratoriepartier af Bach og Händel til sange af Kurt Weill og Alban Berg, og i rollen som Eurydike i Glucks opera Orfeus og Eurydike mm.. Lyt til hende synge Händels ”Lascia la Spina” her.

dansk

Dido and Aeneas by Purcell, P 21 aug 2023, No (2023/2023), Režisēja Erlend Samnøen,, Diriģents Bjarte Eike, Musikhuset, Esbjerg, Denmark

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