William Christie

Anna Bonitatibus

Kresimir Spicer

Giovanni Francesco Busenello

Pierre Judet de la Combe

Preceded by a solemn prologue in which Iride admonishes mortals that they should not offend the gods, the story of Cavalli&apos;s Didone comes to life thanks to numerous solo passages of highly varied character and structure, designed ...

Olivier Simonnet

Francesco Cavalli: La Didone

A perfect example of why Cavalli&apos;s operas should be performed more

&apos;La Didone&apos; is darker than Purcell&apos;s &apos;Dido and Aeneas&apos; and Berlioz&apos;s &apos;Les Troyens&apos;, but it is a fascinating and unjustly neglected opera and one of Cavalli&apos;s most accessible, benefiting from a complex but rich libretto and Cavalli&apos;s beautiful music that treats the story with great dignity.

While not quite perfect, though it almost is, this is a splendid production that treats the opera with respect. The sets are minimalist but still quite beautiful, and the costumes are neither too garish or too drab. Clément Herve-Léger&apos;s stage direction is simple but dramatically intense and does much with the complex story and the emotional interactions between the characters.

There are a couple of oddities, namely the use of scaffolding and Venus dragging the suitcase on her way to Carthage, unimaginative touches that add nothing, but a vast majority of it is poignant with the story always cohesive.

Musically, it is near-perfect. The orchestral playing is stylish, elegant and alive to energy, depth, tension and nuanced pathos, while William Christie (conducting from the harpsichord) keeps things tight and precise, ensuring that the drama never lags but still giving parts of the production an intimacy and gentle lyricism.

Performances here are exceptional, with the only reservation being Francisco Javier Borda who tries too hard. Anna Bonitatibus sings with tremendous power and dramatically outstanding, very vivid and affecting. Kressimir Spicer is suitably heroic as well as thoughtfully gentle and moving.

Supporting them all the way are Xavier Sabata&apos;s effective and stylishly sung Iarbas, Maria Streijffert&apos;s touching Hercuba, Katherine Watson&apos;s poignantly dignified Cassandra and Claire Debono&apos;s seductive Venus.

In conclusion, splendid performance and a perfect example of why Cavalli&apos;s operas should be better known and performed more. 9/10 Bethany Cox

'La Didone' is darker than Purcell's 'Dido and Aeneas' and Berlioz's 'Les Troyens', but it is a fascinating and unjustly neglected opera and one of Cavalli's most accessible, benefiting from a complex but rich libretto and Cavalli's beautiful music that treats the story with great dignity.

While not quite perfect, though it almost is, this is a splendid production that treats the opera with respect. The sets are minimalist but still quite beautiful, and the costumes are neither too garish or too drab. Clément Herve-Léger's stage direction is simple but dramatically intense and does much with the complex story and the emotional interactions between the characters.

There are a couple of oddities, namely the use of scaffolding and Venus dragging the suitcase on her way to Carthage, unimaginative touches that add nothing, but a vast majority of it is poignant with the story always cohesive.

Musically, it is near-perfect. The orchestral playing is stylish, elegant and alive to energy, depth, tension and nuanced pathos, while William Christie (conducting from the harpsichord) keeps things tight and precise, ensuring that the drama never lags but still giving parts of the production an intimacy and gentle lyricism.

Performances here are exceptional, with the only reservation being Francisco Javier Borda who tries too hard. Anna Bonitatibus sings with tremendous power and dramatically outstanding, very vivid and affecting. Kressimir Spicer is suitably heroic as well as thoughtfully gentle and moving.

Supporting them all the way are Xavier Sabata's effective and stylishly sung Iarbas, Maria Streijffert's touching Hercuba, Katherine Watson's poignantly dignified Cassandra and Claire Debono's seductive Venus.

In conclusion, splendid performance and a perfect example of why Cavalli's operas should be better known and performed more. 9/10 Bethany Cox

Preceded by a solemn prologue in which Iride admonishes mortals that they should not offend the gods, the story of Cavalli's Didone comes to life thanks to numerous solo passages of highly varied character and structure, designed both for simple basso continuo support and for a more complex instrumental accompaniment, for five real parts which enjoy some independent moments and which create a diversion from the action or blend in with it in a wholly logical way, intensifying it in a studied, evocative manner. The tragic story of the Carthaginian queen is thus unfolded with extreme attention in a framework that had already been adopted by Monteverdi, of whom Cavalli is considered a worthy successor. In this case it is enlivened and, we might say, given a more popular, direct appeal as it aims to communicate with a public that is gradually expanding. The composer is sincere when he states: "My spirit has always been far from the printing press: I have preferred to allow my weaknesses to run where fortune takes them with the pen rather than the press." He identifies with the torment of Didone and with the "force of nature" (Prunières) that is his and the brilliance of some of his solutions, he creates one of the most tragic, tormented operas of the entire seventeenth century.

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Francesco Cavalli: La Didone

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