APRIL: Preparing for Dido and Aeneas.
Wednesday 08.05, HBSO and Transposition will perform the opera Dido and Aeneas. The opera will feature conductor Lars Notto Birkeland, harpsichordist Christian Kjos, and a quartet from The Trondheim Soloist. (String Players.)
The opera, with a prologue and three acts, was composed by Englishman Henry Purcell to a libretto by Nahum Tate. Purcell was under the influence of the Baroque period, an era in the history of the Western arts coinciding with the 17th century which occurred in Italy. Dido and Aeneas recounts the love story of Dido, queen of Carthage, and the Trojan hero Aeneas. It highlights Dido’s despair over Aeneas’ abandonment to her.
HBSO’s soprano Cho Hae-ryong will play Dido, while Vietnamese singer Pham Trang will play Aeneas. The orchestra’s opera singers, including Nguyen Thi Thanh Nga, Nguyen Thi Thanh Huyen and Tran Duy Linh, will also be featured. The HBSO orchestra and choir will be under the baton of Birkeland.
The performers from HBSO are now entering the last days (and hours) of practise, but the preperations started alreay in April. Vocal coach Siri Torjesen has worked with the singers of HBSO, by Skype (!), each week, so when they met in HCMC last week the training had already started. Enhlish teacher (and singer) Paul Arlidge has also worked intenively with the Choir and singers, to perfection the Choir’s English pronunciation.
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