Claudio Monteverdi’s madrigals are a theatre of the senses. The murmur of the waves, an amorous glance, the coolness of water or the heat of the sun are all brought to life through the composer’s unparalleled gift for marrying text and music. Indeed, the music in these eight books stands alongside Schubert’s songs, or Bach’s […]
Fundraising dinner
Considering the sheer amount of music JS Bach produced in his lifetime, it’s easy to imagine his work being fuelled by a strong coffee. In fact, coffee was indeed one of Bach’s great pleasures, and the coffee houses of eighteenth-century Leipzig featured prominently in its cultural life, as a place where music and ideas were freely exchanged by artists and intellectuals. […]
John Blow’s Venus & Adonis is often considered the first opera in English. Combining elements of Ovid, Shakespeare and the influences of 17th-century French opera, it creates a powerful dramatic retelling of a tale that charts the extreme states of love and grief when beautiful Adonis is gored to death by a boar. The programme […]
Following their groundbreaking reconstruction of the 1742 Dublin version of Handel's Messiah, John Butt and the Dunedin Consort revisit the version performed in London the following year, a more elaborate affair for which Handel had an unusually large group of vocal soloists. This performance marks the opening of the 2018 Misteria Paschalia Festival, which this year […]
Handel's oratorio Samson tells of the last days of the great Israelite warrior, in a dramatic story of his journey from darkness to heavenly light. Opening with Samson in chains, having lost his strength and been blinded by the Philistines, it closes with one of Handel's most famous arias, 'Let the bright Seraphim in burning […]
Dunedin Consort close the 2018 Misteria Paschalia Festival with tenor Ian Bostridge in a performance of Handel's Ode for St Cecilia's Day, a rich and colourful tribute to music's patron saint.
Handel's oratorio Samson tells of the last days of the great Israelite warrior, in a dramatic story of his journey from darkness to heavenly light. Opening with Samson in chains, having lost his strength and been blinded by the Philistines, it closes with one of Handel's most famous arias, 'Let the bright Seraphim in burning […]
Music Director John Butt conducts the Dunedin Consort in Samling Academy Opera’s production of John Blow’s Venus and Adonis and Henry Purcell’s Come, ye Sons of Art. Featuring Samling Artist Tim Morgan as Cupid and soloists from Samling Academy, this production is directed by Samling Artist Miranda Wright and choreographed by Mandy Demetriou. Don’t miss […]
Music Director John Butt conducts the Dunedin Consort in Samling Academy Opera’s production of John Blow’s Venus and Adonis and Henry Purcell’s Come, ye Sons of Art. Featuring Samling Artist Tim Morgan as Cupid and soloists from Samling Academy, this production is directed by Samling Artist Miranda Wright and choreographed by Mandy Demetriou. Don’t miss […]
