Putting the 'Oh' in Opera.
Presenting two very different experiences of this beloved art form - a timeless favourite, Dido and Aeneas an artful romp about Francis Hodgkin's 'Pleasure garden' painting.
Conducted by Philip Norman.
Purcell’s Dido and Aeneas has something for everyone - a doomed love affair, evil schemes, wild carousing and supernatural effects, culminating in one of the most cherished arias in the history of opera, Dido’s lament: “When I am laid in earth may my wrongs create no trouble, no trouble in thy breast.”
This is followed by Philip Norman’s The Pleasure Garden, a comedic chamber opera about how Francis Hodgkin’s painting became part of the permanent collection of Christchurch Art Gallery. A true tale of trickery, triumph and the perversity of human nature, wrapped up in a blanket of laughs. As librettist, A. K. Grant writes of the painting: “Though I’d never say it’s bollocks, it simply lacks the power of a work of Jackson Pollock’s.”
With soloists from The Opera Club of Christchurch including Samantha Warhurst as Dido, Fernand Kenel as Aeneas, Sarah-Jane Rennie as Belinda, Peter Hind as an Art Critic, Eleanor Sim as a Minstrel and Erin Callanan as the ‘spectrally dismayed’ ghost of Frances Hodgkins.
Accompanied by top Christchurch musicians Amandine Guerin, Jonathan Tanner, Sharon Baylis, Tomas Hurnik, Matthew Harris (strings) and Grant Bartley (keyboards).
2 performances ONLY at The Piano, 156 Armagh Street, Christchurch
Saturday 5 September, 3.00pm & 7.30pm
Tickets on sale NOW - $30
Email vivienhicks@gmail.com or Phone 027 842 8236
