“ ‘Dido and Aeneas,’ Henry Purcell’s only true three-act opera, is one of the great masterpieces of English music,” writes Lloyd Schwartz in Thursday’s (11/12) WBUR (Boston). “The Boston Camerata had … planned for 2020-21 before COVID-19…. Camerata’s artistic director Anne Azéma … seemed more excited than daunted by the challenge of putting on a production during the pandemic. ‘It was going to be called the “She Too” season,” … she says…. ‘In a tragic way, COVID-19 was handing us something we needed to do…. Each of [the opera’s] vignettes has a world of passion, of tragedy, of reflection of how to deal with something you do not expect.’ … The ‘orchestra’ will be a string quartet and harpsichord, with … cellist Phoebe Carrai and harpsichordist John McKean … as the rhythmically indispensable continuo players. Dido will be sung by Sri Lankan mezzo-soprano Tahanee Aluwihare, who is now based in Boston. The chorus and smaller roles are drawn from students at the Longy School…. ‘The cast will be together in a large room … with a remote choir taped separately, and silent film, with outdoor scenes,’ Azéma says. ‘The separate elements will be edited together.’ ”
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