photo by Jonathan Williams and Paula Aguilera
One Week Until Dido and Aeneas!
Today we share some candid rehearsal pictures of our Dido and Aeneas! See principals Tahanee Aluwihare, Luke Scott and Camila Parias, as well as our terrific band, all hard at work in Pickman Hall at Longy School of Music of Bard College.
Behind the Scenes: Orchestra Edition
Dr. John McKean, our all important harpsichordist for our Dido production, provides some perspective on Dido’s famous lament “When I am laid in earth.”
Filming Begins for Dido and Aeneas
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.
A Glimpse Behind the Scenes
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.
Why is Purcell’s Dido and Aeneas so special?
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 readingMeet Dido cast member Tahanee Aluwihare
Rising 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.”
New to online events? Here’s what you need to know about our plan
Here you can find answers to your questions about our online production
of Dido and Aeneas: An Opera for Distanced Lovers.
Dido and Aeneas: Streaming Through November 29th
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.
A Flame Unseen: Queen Dido’s Passionate Desire
Mosaic from the Low Ham Villa (UK), AD 340
In anticipation of Camerata’s new production of Purcell’s Dido and Aeneas, we begin another thread. We’ll follow this powerful story of love and betrayal, as it is transmitted across the centuries.
BUT anxious cares already seiz’d the queen:
She fed within her veins a flame unseen;
The hero’s valor, acts, and birth inspire
Her soul with love, and fan the secret fire.
His words, his looks, imprinted in her heart,
Improve the passion, and increase the smart.
~ Aeneid, Book 4, translated by John Dryden