On May 1st 2021 I directed a live-streamed staging of Dido & Aeneas, originally intended as a live performance we adapted it due to Covid-19 restrictions. The performance starts with a newly created prologue by composer Meriç Artaç and writer Julia-Beth Harris, which was created to build up to Dido’s emotional state at the beginning of the Purcell. The whole performance is formed using blocks, as a set, that change into different structures where the characters are situated. A young dancer represents Dido’s childlike self that she locked away due to the pressures of her destiny.
In the autumn there are live performances planned, keep an eye on Music Stages website for more info!
“AN ONLINE OPERA WITH A GOLDEN EDGE
Opera in corona time. What remains of it? Director Peter Leung and conductor Michael Gieler have taken Purcell’s opera classic Dido and Aeneas in hand, and what emerges? Gieler and Leung point the way forward with this production: they show that online opera - even after corona time - can be an interesting option as an addition to stage practice.”
Isa Vreeman (young Dido) & Irene Verburg (Dido) on stage at the Muziekgebouw aan t’ij. ©Emelie Schäfer
Director Music Stages: Michael Gieler
Business Manager Music Stages: Marieke Nooren
Production Manager Music Stages: Evelien Goemans
Marketing via Muziekgebouw: Frans Bernard van Riel
Social Media: Mirna Ackers
Art work: Romy Schäfer
Press: Marjolein van Ruiten
Nationale Koren:
Artistic director: Wilma ten Wolde
Vocal coach: Irene Verburg
Production manager: Leonie Masselink
Dido and Aeneas
Direction, choreography & set design: Peter Leung
Assistant direction: Brigitte van Hagen
Irene Verburg (Dido) & Tania Lorenzo (Belinda) ©Emelie Schäfer
New prologue for Dido and Aeneas
Composition: Meriç Artaç
Libretto: Julia-Beth Harris
Concept development: Meriç Artaç, Julia-Beth Harris, Brigitte van Hagen, Peter Leung
Conductor: Michael Gieler
Dido and Aeneas:
Composition: H. Purcell
Libretto: N. Tate
Dido: Irene Verburg
Aeneas: Henk Neven
Belinda: Tania Lorenzo
The Sorceress: Sophia Faltas
Witch 1: Bernet Wilms
Witch 2: Hilde van Zandbergen
2nd lady: Clara van Vliet
Spirit: Hanneke Hommes & Rosalie de Kloe
Sailor: Lucretia Starke
Dancers: Isa Vreeman
De Nationale Ballet Academie / Director: Ernst Meisner
Choir: Nationaal Jeugdkoor
Live-stream direction: Claudia Tellegen