Prom 7: Purcell’s Dido and Aeneas (19.07.22)

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

22:15 Tuesday 19 July 2022
Royal Albert Hall

Henry Purcell: Dido and Aeneas

Dido.... Alice Coote (mezzo-soprano)
Aeneas.... James Newby (baritone)
Belinda.... Gemma Summerfield (soprano)
Sorceress.... Madeleine Shaw (mezzo)
Second Woman.... Nardus Williams (soprano)
Sailor..... Nicky Spence (tenor)
Spirit.... Tim Mead (counter-tenor)

La Nuova Musica Choir
La Nuova Musica
David Bates harpsichord/conductor

Abandoned by her lover, Dido must choose between death or a life without love. Her painful decision is powerfully dramatised in some of the most emotive music of the Baroque period, including Dido’s famous lament, When I am laid in earth.

Period instrument ensemble La Nuova Musica makes its Proms debut under Artistic Director David Bates, who made his own Proms debut last year conducting Mozart’s Requiem. They are joined by an exciting cast led by mezzo-soprano Alice Coote and former Kathleen Ferrier Prize winner and Radio 3 New Generation Artist James Newby in the title roles.

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

I just wish this was given the distinction of a "main" evening Prom.

[W.Kearns]

I just wish this was given the distinction of a "main" evening Prom.

Entirely agree.

[bluestateprommer]

Very late catch-up listen to the Dido and Aeneas Prom (the first complete Proms performance since 2003, BTW), and a very fine performance this is, complete with semi-staged business and sound effects, and according to Hannah French, a bit of campiness in one scene. Maybe there was an over-so-slightly hammy hint of "my man done me wrong" acting edginess from Alice Coote in her last scene with James Newby's Aeneas (sounded rather 'baritenor'-ish, IMHO, or maybe that's just the part and how it's written), but it kind of fits.

The first two Proms performances, in 1964 and 1974, did have other works and were part of 'main evening' Proms. However, those were from the pre-HIPP days, to state the obvious. Now, if one were to feature D&A in HIPP style now as part of a main evening Prom, I'm not sure what would go in the other half of the concert most optimally. The work goes so well on its own that maybe a stand-alone Late Night Prom, or perhaps a morning matinee, is the way to feature it, i.e. by itself.

[smittims]

It would go well in a double bill with Blow's 'Venus and Adonis' or Arne's 'Thomas and Sally'.