A special evening of Opera in Perrins Hall

Bow ties and ball gowns were the order of the day in Perrins Hall on Tuesday evening as our Sixth Form musicians put on two very special concert performances of Henry Purcell’s Baroque Opera Dido and Aeneas. This passionate and elegant opera takes its plot from a portion of Virgil’s Aeneid, telling the tale of Dido, Queen of Carthage, and her ultimately tragic love affair with Prince Aeneas. Heini Hughes performed the role of Dido with an exquisite subtlety and beauty, whilst Isabella Hulbert brought true flair and passion to the spirited arias of Dido’s handmaid Belinda. Lillian Heyburn and Rosie Greenwood revelled in playing a pair of sinister sorceresses, with Brigid O’Connor, Katie Downes (as a meddling spirit) and George Oates (as a somewhat inebriated sailor), singing solos with confidence and precision. An orchestra of five talented string players ably accompanied the fifteen-strong chorus (which included four keen teachers), who sang together with a superb sense of ensemble to realise Purcell’s beautiful score.

As the first and only ‘live’ musical performance with an audience at RGS this year, there was great anticipation around this production, rehearsals for which began via Google Meet back in January, ably led by Mrs Spencer. For any school group to put on an opera is something special indeed and the performers worked so very hard, in ensemble and solo rehearsals, to master the technical and emotional complexity of this much-loved opera, making it particularly sad when several could not perform on the night due to becoming Covid ‘close contacts’. 

We thank Mr Tom Hunt, one of our singing teachers, for stepping into the role of Aeneas in the place of Tom Ehlers (who was performing Aeneas’s arias with real assurance and boldness), as well as Dr James who led the orchestra with less than a day’s notice. Despite the off-stage drama, everyone involved in this production should be wholly proud of themselves for the integral parts they played during the production’s process. The distanced audience, at both of the evening’s two performances, gathered with a palpable sense of excitement, many having not attended a live concert for over a year. The applause at the end of each performance was lengthy and generous, befitting the incredibly high standard of music-making and professionality from the performers which made this a very special evening indeed. 

Mr Jonathan Soman

Director of Music