Dido and Aeneas: This Thrilling Mythological Opera is a Must-See

‘Dido and Aeneas: This Thrilling Mythological Opera is a Must-See’ is a review of Opera Australia’s Dido and Aeneas, by Irina Dunn.

Who would have thought that a circus group could add so much to an operatic production? 

My “handbag” was dreading the thought of sitting through a tedious Purcell opera, fidgeting during the orchestral longueurs and yawning while the plot seemed to be stalled and nothing seemed to be happening. 

Brilliant director and designer Yaron Lifschitz once again called upon the extraordinary physical skills of the 12 members of the Brisbane-based Circa Ensemble, which performed breath-taking, gravity-defying acrobatic feats with no safety props, harnesses or nets.  (They partnered with Opera Australia last year for the first time to enliven Gluck’s tragic opera Orpheus and Eurydice to great success.) 

But let’s go back to the tragic tale that Purcell made the subject of his Baroque opera, which is based on Virgil’s Aeneid. Sung magnificently by Anna Dowsley, Dido, the much-revered queen of Carthage (on the North African coast), falls in love with the Trojan hero Aeneas (Nicholas Jones), who is washed up on the shores of her city on his way to Italy.  

Interestingly, Purcell seems to understand Dido’s womanly concern when she tells Belinda, her maidservant, that she fears love will make her a weak monarch. 

Dido and Aeneas are allowed only one night together, it seems, before the wicked Sorceress (also sung in a clever casting move by Anna Dowsley) intervenes in disguise as Mercury to remind Aeneas of his mission to found Rome and send him off immediately. 

He volunteers to stay in defiance of the gods, but Dido rejects him (somewhat petulantly, I think), preferring to see the back of Aeneas if only to get to sing (in my opinion) one of the most moving arias in the whole of the opera canon, “When I am laid in earth,” a fantastic opportunity for a mezzo to show off the power and expression of her “fach” (look it up). 

I was really surprised to find that the performances of Circa added an unexpected emotional dimension to the opera when combined with Purcell’s glorious music that was so beautifully performed by the Opera Australia Orchestra under the baton of Conductor Erin Helyard with the addition of a harpsichord so necessary to Purcell’s score. 

Libby McDonnell’s costumes were really impressive, with Dido, in a gorgeous evening gown, able to slither out of it into her serpent-like figure-hugging membrane when she sang the Sorceress role. 

The Opera Australia chorus under the guidance of Chorus Master Paul Fitzsimon played a major role in this opera, appearing on stage in costume as a kind of “Greek chorus” and even, it seemed, interacting closely with members of Circa if my eyes didn’t deceive me. 

Lighting designer Matthew Marshall certainly had his work cut out for him as Circa performed its fantastic jumps, rolls, twists and climbs across the stage. Why did I find these so moving? Was it because the group represented the huge efforts of humanity to move in concert with one another, to stay alive and to perform so passionately?  

Whatever it was, this was a thrilling production which you must see before its last night.

Opera Australia’s Dido and Aeneas is on at Joan Sutherland Theatre at the Sydney Opera House until 29 March.