Opera Erratica's Dido and Aeneas



Opera Erratica
Dido and Aeneas
till August 29
Winchester Theatre, Toronto

It's your last chance this weekend to catch Opera Erratica's production of Henry Purcell's Dido and Aeneas, which closes its run on August 29. Forget about what you think you know about opera and picture this: a minimalist staging mostly in black, dominated by a fabric screen where videos flicker, their shadows duplicated on the wall behind. A talented group of musicians plays the elegant strains of Purcell's music on Baroque period instruments while the voices of the singers float above it all. A small video screen at the rafters offers bits of the libretto, wry commentary and philosophical musings.. This is an experience quite unlike traditional opera, cleverly brought to modern audiences in multimedia style by Erratica's Director, Patrick Eakin Young, with kudos to Ashiq Aziz and his talented musicians. At the heart of it all, though, still lies the soaring voices and charisma of a mostly younger cast who are obviously having fun with the medium. Highly recommended!

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