Purcell’s incomparable Dido and Aeneas, presenting the death of the tragic Carthaginian queen, has long been acknowledged as a masterpiece of English musical drama, while Charpentier’s story of the unfortunate hunter Actéon, transformed into a stag and devoured by his own hounds for observing the goddess Diana bathing, is one of the great discoveries of recent decades.
Directed from the harpsichord by Christian Curnyn, the cast includes Ed Lyon as Actéon and Hilary Summers as Junon, plus Emilie Renard and Callum Thorpe as Dido and Aeneas.
This French-English concert marks our welcome return to York Early Music Festival to celebrate 3oo years of the Entente Cordiale. It is “an uncommonly fine double-bill” according to The Guardian’s review of a previous performance of this programme.
