This week, at the height of spooky season, we focus on the malefic part of Dido and Aeneas, with thoughts from Prof. Ellen T. Harris and two Sorcerers, as well as instrumental music for the Witches from our opera.
We hope everyone has a safe and fun Halloween!
Earlier this week we spent a gorgeous day filming some images that will be part of Dido and Aeneas: An Opera for Distanced Lovers, which is coming very soon! The Camerata soloists were joined by a group of students from Longy School of Music of Bard College, several of whom are singing supporting roles in the opera.
Here’s Anne in the formal garden where some of the Dido action will be taking place, as we do a live video shoot in a few days. Learn about the sets and the settings for our innovative, multilayered production of Henry Purcell’s masterpiece.
We bid a fond “au revoir” to our friend the centaur, 
who hails from a Medieval manuscript preserved in an Avignon archive. But times change, and we want to adapt our Camerata “look,” as we face both challenges and opportunities in the seasons and years to come. Music lives!
Why does this brief work, less than an hour long, create such a powerful, emotional impact?
We’re fortunate to have Ellen T. Harris, eminent Baroque scholar and Professor Emeritus of Music at MIT, on our team. Dr. Harris, who quite literally wrote the book on Dido, will be delivering the pre-concert talk before our performance in November. Here she shares with us her thoughts about this incredible, compact musical drama.
Continue readingThis week we will hear about the groundbreaking 1979 Camerata production and recording of Dido and Aeneas from Camerata Music Director Emeritus Joel Cohen and Board member David Griesinger.
Continue readingRising opera star Tahanee Aluwihare, who will be interpreting the role of Dido in Camerata’s new production of Purcell’s great masterpiece, shares with us her thoughts on this upcoming adventure.
“I am really looking forward to exploring this powerful feminine role with Tahanee, a major young talent on the North American music scene,” says Artistic Director Anne Azéma. “You can catch a glimpse of Tahanee’s enquiring spirit in this short clip.”
For some of us it is a New Year! To one and all, here are Camerata’s wishes for a season of firm resolve, courage, and hope, as we strive to make the world a better place.
One such striver was Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg. According to Jewish tradition, those who die on the New Year are “tsadikim,” persons of unusual righteousness. And so it is, surely, with her.
This medieval hymn, “Lord of the World,” is heard here in a majestic setting for double choir by Salomone Rossi (1565-1628).
Translation:
My Rock in sorrow’s darkest day;
A Help and Refuge unto me,
My Portion sure, my Shield and Stay.
…. I will not fear.
Music by Henry Purcell (1659-1695) – Libretto by Nahum Tate (1652-1715)
This new production of Purcell’s only true opera features performances by live and remote musicians and media elements conceived by Peter Torpey, all stitched together to be viewed from the safety and comfort of your home. Artistic Director Anne Azéma leads a stellar cast, with Tahanee Aluwihare as Dido, Luke Scott as Aeneas, Camila Parias as Dido’s sister Belinda, and Jordan Weatherston Pitts as the Sorcerer, assisted by students from Longy School of Music of Bard College and the Harvard Choral Fellows directed by Edward Elwyn Jones.
The show will be available for streaming, on-demand, from November 14-29, 2020 – ticketbuyers will be emailed links to the show, as well as a pre-concert presentation on Dido and Aeneas by Ellen T. Harris (Professor Emeritus of Music, MIT) and a post-performance conversation between Anne Azéma and Peter Torpey.
Our trailer was created by Peter Torpey featuring music from the 1979 Boston Camerata recording of Dido and Aeneas.
