Vox Luminis and Lionel Meunier travel back to a time when London's theatres vied to attract audiences with spectacular shows and pulse-quickening entertainments. Dido and Aeneas, possibly written for the royal court before being performed at Josias Priest's girls' school in the late 1680s, vanished from the stage for almost two centuries but has since secured its place among the great works of 17th-century music drama. Purcell's opera, crowned by Dido's death scene, is followed by his memorial works for another queen, Mary II, and other treasures chosen from the top drawer of the Vox Luminis repertoire.

Programme:

Henry Purcell Dido and Aeneas Z 626
Ode on the death of a Queen – a selection of works by Elizabethan composers, including:
John Dowland Lachrimae Pavan
Henry Purcell Now that the sun hath veiled his light (An Evening Hymn on a Ground) Z 193
Hear my prayer, O Lord Z 15
Close thine eyes and sleep secure (Upon a Quiet Conscience) Z 184
Music for the Funeral of Queen Mary Z 860
John Dowland Lachrimae Tristes
Henry Purcell Remember not, Lord, our offences Z 50
O dive custos Auriacae domus (Ode on the death of Queen Mary) Z 504

Performers:

Carine Tinney Dido
Jacob Lawrence Aeneas
Perrine Devillers Belinda
Vox Luminis
Lionel Meunier artistic director