KING ARTHUR IN DIDO'S COURT

William Remmers as Merlin and Zoe Hart as Philadel

It was the wizardry of Utopia Opera's William Remmers that made an unusual evening's entertainment out of two works by 17th c. composer Henry Purcell. His concept was to have the 1691 King Arthur performed at the court of Queen Dido of Carthage, in order to cheer her from the grief over the apparent betrayal of her lover Aeneas of Troy. After the intermission, the Dido and Aeneas (Purcell's first opera, dating from the 1680's) was performed.

With works over three centuries old, one does not expect the entire score and libretto to survive, but Mr. Remmers, stepping down from his customary role of conductor, cobbled together a 90-minute adaptation, taking on a number of roles himself. He first played Sir Thomas Betterton, an impresario bringing his troupe of actors and singers to Carthage to perform for the Queen. But the actors were eaten by cannibals and so he was stuck with a bunch of singers who "couldn't act", slipping in a private joke for the audience.

He also assumed the role of Oswald, the Saxon King who was battling with King Arthur, the King of the Britons. This was probably meant to be an allegory for the political situation in Restoration England but we do not need to concern ourselves with that detail. Let us just enjoy the outrageous performances--not only as Merlin but also as the Cold Genius in the Frost Scene and later as Comus, god of the Masque.

Singers also doubled in their roles. The beautiful coloratura soprano Madison Marie McIntosh was perfectly cast as the blind Cornish Princess Emmeline, beloved of King Arthur (Lieve Buzard) but kidnapped by the Saxons; she later appeared as Cupid (not the blind boy-child we have come to expect) and had the opportunity to exhibit an impressive skill with ornamentation.  Having awakened the Cold Genius from his long winter's nap, we were treated to a marvelous aria "Tis I that have warm'd ye" which was picked up by the excellent chorus as "Tis love that has warm'd ye".

It was the custom of the time to give singing roles only to supernatural creatures and rustics; so we had the burly voiced Glenn Friedman, wearing elfin ears, as Grimbald, an evil spirit, and the lovely soprano Zoe Hart as the good spirit Philadel who saves the day for the Britons.

A memorable trio was sung by tenor Matthew Hughes as a shepherd with his two shepherdesses sung by soprano Rachel Rosenberg and mezzo-soprano Sidney Dixon; the harmonies were delicious.

Caroline Tye as Dido and Winnie Nieh as Belinda