Henry Purcell - King Arthur by Purcell, ned. 14 jan. 2024, Od (2024/2024), Dirigent Lionel Meunier, Teatru Manoel, Valletta, Malta

King Arthur and his associate Merlin have caused much ink to flow, but under the pen of John Dryden and with the music of Henry Purcell their story takes an entirely new turn. The text retraces the chapter in British history in which the Saxons, seeking to reconquer their territory, attack the Britons on St George’s Day. In absolute terms, the subject is the forces of Nature challenged by human stupidity: possession, gain and wickedness. King Arthur enjoyed such success that it was regularly revived in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. Here Vox Luminis presents it in a new light. Wild and gentle, the beings ‘without being’ hide in the enchanted forest and sing of love, sunlight on moss and the awakening of the senses, and caress the traveller’s skin with their voices.