Details

'Remember me, but ah! Forget my fate' sings Dido at the end of Purcell's opera. But life isn't quite as easy as that, and some memories have a destiny of their own. Set several years after the Carthaginian queen's death, Dido's Ghost finds Dido's sister Anna abandoned on the shores of Aeneas's new kingdom, igniting a murderous jealously in Aeneas's wife Lavinia - and as events play out, its characters confront a past that refuses to fade. Errollyn Wallen's new opera, based on a tale by Roman poet Ovid, embraces and complements Purcell's original, which is performed in its entirety as the centrepiece of a drama that is both old and new. World Premiere. Performed by the period instruments of the Dunedin Consort and live-streamed from our Hall, past blurs into present and memory becomes emotion in this ambitious and poignant new commission.

Cast/Performers

Golda Schultz (Dido), Matthew Brook (Aeneas), Nardus Williams (Belinda), Allison Cook (Lavinia), Henry Waddington (Sorcerer)

Creatives/Company

Music: Errollyn Wallen
Company: Dunedin Consort
Conductor: John Butt
Lyrics: Wesley Stace
Director: Frederic Wake-Walker