King Arthur by Purcell, Thu 10 May 2018, From (2018/2018), Directed by Sven-Eric Bechtolf, Julian Crouch, Conductor René Jacobs, Staatsoper Unter den Linden, Berlin, Germany

The British and the Saxons fight for supremacy. Some draw strength from the Christian faith and from the clout of their army under the leadership of the knightly King Arthur, others cling to pagan cults and hope for their king Oswald. Without their sorcerers, who support them with white and black magic, they would of course be lost. And then there's the beautiful, blind Emmeline... With his »Dramatick Opera«, first performed in 1691 at London's Dorset Garden Theatre, the poet John Dryden and the composer Henry Purcell achieved a veritable theatrical coup. Speaking and singing scenes combine in an organic way, with catchy songs and dialogues that are sometimes serious and pathetic, sometimes funny and comedic. »Old England« is conjured up, sometimes in a tongue-in-cheek way, and with it the events surrounding the legendary King Arthur, who, with the magician Merlin and the air spirit Philidel at his side, survives all battles and defies all adversities. In their production, Sven-Eric Bechtolf and Julian Crouch have created a fantastic stage world, with a background story about a little boy,