Project Description
Dido and Æneas
Henry Purcell, Livret de Nahum Tate
Textes extraits de Macbeth, The Tempest, Richard III de Shakespeare et l’Énéide de Virgile
Direction et arrangements musicaux, Louis-Noël Bestion de Camboulas / Mise en scène, scénographie et costumes, Pierre Lebon / Chorégraphie, Iris Florentiny / Création lumière, Bertrand Killy / Direction générale, Juliette Guignard / Administration, Laure Caillaud / Production, Eléonore Minot
Blandine de Sansal, Didon / Grace Durham, Énée / Clara Penalva, Belinda, L’Esprit / Louise Bourgeat, 2ème Dame, 1ère Sorcière / Eugénie Lefebvre, L’Enchanteresse / Juliette Gauthier, 2ème Sorcière, marin / Pierre Lebon, comédien et danseur / Iris Florentiny, danseuse / Aurélien Bednarek, danseur
Anaëlle Blanc-Verdin et Gabriel Grosbard, violons / Charlotte Gerbiz, alto / Matthieu Bertrand, flûtes et hautbois / Xavier Miquel, hautbois et flûtes / Lucile Tessier, basson et flûtes / Juliette Guignard, viole de gambe / Damien Pouvreau, théorbe et guitare / Louis-Noël Bestion de Camboulas, clavecin
Bertrand Killy, régisseur général / Arthur Tourene, régisseur plateau
We wanted to give this Dido and Aeneas a particular direction by choosing an exclusively female vocal cast. This is a nod to the origins of this work, which was performed in Purcell’s day at a girls’ school. This choice was also motivated by the vocal and theatrical excellence of the candidates who took part in the Clermont competition.
Dido and Aeneas was staged in the style of English “masques,” performances combining music, theater, dance, and mechanical effects that were all the rage with London audiences in the second half of the 17th century. Henry Purcell’s music will be accompanied by spoken texts taken from Virgil’s Aeneid and Shakespeare’s Richard III, Macbeth, and The Tempest. The latter is a master of fantastical plots, using language as the gods play with the fate of men. A prologue and interludes are thus recreated in the form of scenes with spoken texts, arias, choruses, and dances, blending the arts into a total spectacle. All the artists on stage, in a true spirit of ensemble, participate in the same gesture, taking turns as singer-actor, ensemble singer, actor, and dancer. The sea is the main character, within which human emotions struggle grotesquely and magnificently. It is at once the music, the movement, and the setting.
Construction des décors et costumes : Opéra de Limoges
Coproduction Clermont Auvergne Opéra – Fondation Royaumont
Opéra de Limoges – Atelier lyrique de Tourcoing
Office artistique de la Nouvelle-Aquitaine – Fondation Orange
Ensemble Les Surprises – Adami – SPEDIDAM