Purcell - Dido and Aeneas (arte.tv)

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Puzzling Dido from Geneva this evening. I don't know what to make of it. I'm sure some people I know would call it 'foutage de gueule' (a mockery, a wind-up...). And I don't usually like directors to chop a score up and/or add things of their own; nor do I usually care much for distracting dancers having fits all over the place...

But I get the feeling I'll probably read up on it tomorrow, if I find time, and perhaps watch again. Thinking through this kind of production is more interesting to me than sitting through, say, McVicar's Adriana Lecouvreur or nearly any of the stuff I've seen in the past year from Vienna. Despite the weak (not to say risible) additional texts, there were some powerful moments - more so dramatically than musically. I was surprised Haïm wasn't a bit livelier. 

This is the link to the replay on arte.tv.

This is the link to the programme notes.

Conductor: Emmanuelle Haïm. Production and choreography: Franck Chartier (Peeping Tom). Additional music: Atsushi Sakaï. Sets: Justine Bougerol. Costumes: Anne-Catherine Kunz. Lighting: Giacomo Gorini. Dido, Sorceress, Spirit: Marie-Claude Chappuis. Dido (actress): Eurudike De Beul. Æneas, Sailor: Jarrett Ott. Belinda, 2nd Witch: Emőke Baráth. 2nd Woman, 1st Witch: Marie Lys. Grand Théâtre de Genève Chorus. Orchestre du Concert d’Astrée.

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