Theorbos at the ready: Dido and Aeneas at the Wigmore Hall
Dido and Aeneas
David Bates and La Nuova Musica
Wigmore Hall
Stalls C13, £5 (under-35s)
7 April 2018
Wigmore page
I’m a bit sceptical of David Bates’s strengths but I’d say as far as they go they lie in the bigger picture rather than the finer details. The number of players involved in this performance of Dido and Aeneas is almost small enough to play to those strengths, and despite some reservations I enjoyed a lot about this performance, of an admittedly pretty reliably fabulous opera.
The greatest value brought by Nuova Musica is I think the freedom of the harps and theorbos, bringing a fluid, fragile beauty that was exquisite to hear in the intimacy of the Wigmore Hall. Whether it’s historically authentic or not (I’ve no idea) I think it makes great, almost unbearable sense of the music’s plangency and yearning spirit that simultaneously leans forward and indulges decadently. These performers were superb, and seemed only occasionally perturbed by the more enthusiastic flourishes coming from the conductor.
One of the main reasons I bought this ticket was to see Rachel Kelly, who in years gone by was impressive during her time in the Royal Opera’s Young Artist programme. She still has a great voice but I was, as a massive fuss-pot, still disappointed by her performance, which I felt was too centred around the famous final aria without cohering across the work as a whole. Perhaps that’s all I should expect from a lunchtime concert performance.
I was delighted, on the other hand, to discover Anna Dennis as Belinda – not a singer I’ve come across before and she sang superbly. The ensemble as a whole all had pleasant voices, as you’d hope. I didn’t like the highly mannered singing of the choir but that’s something I will attribute to Bates.
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