Opera
Desire, obsession and doomed love: Oper Frankfurt’s striking double bill brings together two one-act operas separated by more than 200 years of musical history, yet united in their searing explorations of human relationships. Purcell’s Dido and Aeneas is a poignant masterpiece of early English opera that features some of the composer’s most heartfelt music. After reluctantly falling in love with the warrior Aeneas as he travels home from the Trojan Wars, Dido is brutally rejected when he is later deceived into leaving her. Bartók’s hugely powerful opera Bluebeard’s Castle depicts the tragic Judith obsessively opening a series of mysterious doors in her recently betrothed’s castle to discover the fate of his former wives. In a sumptuous score, Bartók paints vivid musical pictures of the castle’s sinister rooms, while also conveying the psychological subtleties of his two protagonists. The daring, visually arresting productions by Australian director Barrie Kosky combine intimacy and grandeur, and conductor Constantinos Carydis leads an exceptional cast of acclaimed soloists.
‘enchantingly poetic imagery… and beautiful sound’
‘simply fantastic’ Süddeutsche Zeitung
Dido and Aeneas Henry Purcell Libretto by Nahum Tate after Virgil Sung in English with English supertitles Dido Paula Murrihy Belinda Kateryna Kasper Second woman Elizabeth Reiter Sorceress Martin Wölfel First Witch Roland Schneider Second Witch Dmitry Egorov Spirit Peter Marsh Aeneas Sebastian Geyer Sailor Peter Marsh
Bluebeard’s Castle Béla Bartók Libretto by Béla Balázs
SWR 2 / Journal am Mittag
Sung in Hungarian with English supertitles Saturday 24 & Sunday 25 August 7.15pm Festival Theatre, Edinburgh Tickets £68 £60 £52 £42 £30 £20 £16 2 hours 45 minutes approximately eif.co.uk/dido-bluebeard Sunday 25 August 7.15pm Interpreter: Paul Whittaker OBE of ‘Music and the Deaf’
Supported by
The Binks Trust With additional support from
Consulate General of the Federal Republic of Germany, Edinburgh
Bluebeard Robert Hayward Judith Tanja Ariane Baumgartner
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