“Courtiers there is no faith in you, you change as often as you can. Your women they continue true, until they see another man”.
Oxford, c1683. The court of Charles II eagerly anticipates a new ‘Masque for the entertainment of the King’ by the the feminist poet Anne Finch, set to music by John Blow. There is a certain frisson as the King’s former mistress Moll Davies will sing the role of Venus with their illegitimate daughter, the Lady Mary Tudor, as Cupid….
John Blow’s exquisite Masque, an opera in all but name and the first in English, begins with a comic and bawdy prologue where Cupid chastises the audience for their loose morals, and progresses into a tale of love and loss (with a spelling lesson along the way). The clear model for Purcell’s Dido and Aeneas, Venus and Adonis matches Dido in every way and stands as one of the most beautiful works in the English language.
Join the award winning Early Opera Company to experience this satirical, comic and ultimately tragic tale.
