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Virginia Arts Festival

Virginia Arts Festival

Dido and Aeneas

Sandler Center

Virginia Beach, Virginia — United States

Performances Times

May 13, 2017

8:00 pm

Works Performed

Dido and Aeneas

Music - Henry Purcell

Mark Morris Dance Group and Music Ensemble
Choreography by Mark Morris
Conducted by Mark Morris
Featuring Stephanie Blythe, mezzo-soprano

When this masterwork premiered 27 years ago, critics hailed the provocative work as “a tour de force of artistic storytelling…that smashes and rewrites boundaries” (Los Angeles Times). In revival, Morris’s Dido and Aeneas still entices the eye and raises the pulse, with Morris conducting the orchestra, choral ensemble and soloists in the 17th-century score.

“Delight defines Mark Morris’ Dido and Aeneas. Delight in sex, in music, in pathos, in mischief and even evil. Delight…and joy” (Chicago Tribune).

Music lovers will delight in the live music, as legendary opera star Stephanie Blythe sings the roles of the love-dazed Dido and the evil Sorceress. “That astonishing voice–dark, vehement, burning…to hear Ms. Blythe sing…is to hear the roles anew” (The New York Times).