“This Spring the UUCB Choir, staff, and guest musicians from around the country will present Henry Purcell’s baroque opera Dido and Aeneas for our first ever MUUsic Weekend. This expansion of our traditional Music Sundays will start with a full operatic performance on Friday May 5th at 7:30pm (with pre-show talk at 7pm) and be followed by a presentation of choral excerpts from the opera on Sunday May 7th at our usual service time. The Friday evening performance will be open to the public on a pay-what-you-will basis – TICKETS AVAILABLE SOON.”
“Dido and Aeneas tells the story of Dido, Queen of Carthage, as first told in Virgil’s epic The Aeneid. The widowed and exiled queen is master of her own domain until the widowed and exiled hero Aeneas arrives on her queendom’s shores. Through the meddling of the gods, the two rulers’ fates are bound together, only to then be forced violently apart with horrific consequences for Dido. The opera is known for its tragic ending, but this mythic tale is also full of humor and insight into what it means to be human. Its hour-long duration is crammed full of stunning singing from both the soloists and Greek-style chorus. Our production will also feature period string and keyboard instruments as would have been used in the opera’s original productions in the 1680s.”