Season Announcement 2025: Dido & Aeneas with Longborough Festival Opera and Barokksolistene

I’m thrilled to be returning to the Cotswolds this summer for Longborough Festival Opera’s vibrant new production of Dido & Aeneas, featuring one of the world’s leading baroque ensembles, Barokksolistene.

This version of Dido and Aeneas, offering fresh and vibrant arrangements of Purcell’s score, will be expanded into a full evening of entertainment, restoration-extravaganza style. Barroksolistene and Erlend Samnøen will unpack the emotions of key characters, weaving in additional tunes from the wider Purcell canon, along with folk ballads and sea-shanties to enrich the storytelling.

After Dido's death and the exquisite choral lament "With Drooping Wings" there will be a rousing wake for the Queen of Carthage. The project will be led by Bjarte Eike, one of the leading exponents in Baroque fiddle, and directed by Norwegian stage director and choreographer Erlend Samnøen.

We’ve had such a blast rehearsing this high-octane production over the past few weeks - it promises to be a barnstorming end to a thrilling season. Tickets are selling out fast, so for more information including booking, please click here.