Opera on 3 - Opera on 3 from the Royal Opera House - Purcell's Dido and Aeneas/Handel's Acis and Galatea

Louise Fryer presents a performance from the Royal Opera House, London, as resident choreographer Wayne McGregor's stages a double bill featuring two great English Baroque masterpieces - Purcell's Dido and Aeneas, and Handel's Acis and Galatea. The programme forms part of the celebrations of the 350th anniversary of Henry Purcell's birth and the 250th anniversary of George Frederic Handel's death, as the ROH and the Royal Ballet join forces to couple Dido and Aeneas with Acis and Galatea, two classical tragedies of love and death. British mezzo-soprano Sarah Connolly takes on the role of the doomed Queen of Carthage as she succumbs to the tragic fate of an unrequited love, while American soprano Danielle de Niese sings -and dances - as she becomes Galatea, the semi-godess who uses her powers to make love eternal. Purcell: Dido and Aeneas Dido ...... Sarah Connolly (mezzo-soprano) Belinda ...... Lucy Crowe (soprano) Aeneas ...... Lucas Meacham (baritone) Second Woman ...... Anita Watson (soprano) Sorceress ...... Sara Fulgoni (mezzo-soprano) First Witch ...... Eri Nakamura Second Witch ...... Pumeza Matshikiza (soprano) Spirit ...... Iestyn Davies (countertenor) Sailor ...... Ji-Min Park (tenor) Handel: Acis and Galatea Acis ...... Charles Workman (baritone) Galatea ...... Danielle de Niese (soprano) Damon ...... Paul Agnew (tenor) Coridon ...... Ji-Min Park (tenor) Polyphemus ...... Matthew Rose (bass) Chorus Soprano soloist ...... Juliet Schiemann Chorus tenor soloist ...... Philip Bell The Royal Opera Extra Chorus The Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment Christopher Hogwood (conductor).