The tragedy of Purcell's Dido and Aeneas is well known: Aeneas will sail away, leaving Dido to her fate. But when the performance takes place beneath the 200ft copper hull of the Cutty Sark in London, the impending doom is inescapable. The space itself tells the story, making one question the need for elaborate staging.
A Semi-Staging Under the Clipper
Director Andrew Staples opted for a 'ritual' performance, with the Monteverdi Choir processing in mournfully, their faces white and tailcoats ripped and stained like refugees from a Tim Burton fable. The English Baroque Soloists, under conductor Jonathan Sells, rode every current of the score with colourful abandon in celebration and infinite restraint elsewhere. The unaccompanied choral moments, such as 'With drooping wings' and the Funeral Sentences, were particularly striking, with voices unified in inflection and carving the music's emotions with devastating clarity.
Exceptional Soloists
The cast delivered a rich account. German-Egyptian mezzo Karima el Demerdasch, definitely one to watch, was a voluptuous-voiced Dido, her suicidal queen still coming into focus. Johanna Wallroth's radiant Belinda and Bethany Horak-Hallett's sumptuous Sorceress provided rival musical poles, tugging the drama from good to ill. Hubert Zapiór's baritonal Aeneas was a worthy lover and sparring partner for Demerdasch, a hero almost worth dying for.
Future Performances
Next month, the show travels to Norway for the Bergen festival. Cut loose from its nautical anchor, it will likely gain dramatic momentum. Despite the challenges of the venue, the performance showcased tremendous musicality and vocal power.
