BY LEAH BLANKENDAAL
‘Dido & Aeneas’ by Purcell
XL Arts Inc.
St Stephens Anglican Church, 5 February
Purcell’s ‘Dido and Aeneas’ was the second fully staged opera by Melbourne based collective XL Arts. The culmination of the collective’s most recent professional development program, The Purcell Project, ‘Dido and Aeneas’ featured young soprano Anna Maria Adamidis and tenor Doug Kelly in the title roles.
Purcell’s most famous work tells the legend of Dido, Queen of Carthage, and her fateful love of the refugee Prince Aeneas, who flees Troy after defeat in the Trojan War. Although the opera begins with happiness between the couple, this quickly becomes undone as an evil sorcerer coerces Aeneas into leaving Dido. The injury this causes Dido is too much and, having sung her famous lament, (**spoiler**) she dies.
The artistic brainchild of singer Liane Keegan and conductor Patrick Burns, XL Arts creates professional development opportunities for young artists that complement their existing studies or careers. Prior to the production, the singers and musicians spent three intensive weeks in rehearsal, focusing on both singing in English and early music performance practice. During this time they received tutorage from industry professionals Simon Kenway, Cameron Menzies, Margaret Haggart, Alison Cole and Helga Hill OAM.
The result of this hard work was a solid production with many impressive individual performances. Countertenor Hamish Gould was a particular highlight – his portrayal of the Sorcerer was especially terrifying in the best of ways. Likewise, the performances from the two leads – in particular Kelly’s Aeneas – was strong and commanding. Supporting the production, young conductor Sascha Kelly led a tight and impressive chamber ensemble through the continuo score.
As might be expected from an educational program, there were some imperfections. The choreography from the ensemble was at times a little awkward, although this may have been due to the restrictive space of the stage. Similarly, there were some minor intonation issues from both the ensemble and the cast of minor characters when singing in thirds.
This said, on the whole, the quality of the performance was particularly high. As an educational work, the programming of ‘Dido and Aeneas’ by XL Arts was especially savvy. At roughly an hour long, this opera was originally written for and premiered at an elite girls school. The music is therefore easily digestible, which gave the cast of young performers ‘Dido and Aeneas’ a chance to sink into the music without being weighed down by large amounts of content and memorization. Overall, XL Arts’ Purcell Project and subsequent ‘Dido and Aeneas’ was a rounding success and an important opportunity for developing singers looking to gain operatic experience.
Disclaimer: in another life, Sascha Kelly and Leah Blankendaal make radio together at 3MBS 103.5FM in Melbourne.
Image supplied. Credit: Andrew Follows.
