Toronto’s Opera Atelier presents Henry Purcell’s beloved opera Dido and Aeneas, launching Chamberfest 2026 with all the splendour and flair of the Baroque. An exciting cast of Canadian singers, including Ottawa-born sopranos Meghan Lindsay and Mireille Asselin and superstar mezzo-soprano Measha Bruggergossman-Lee, are joined by a full complement of baroque dancers, Ottawa’s Caelis Academy Ensemble Choir, and a superb early music ensemble in this semi-staged production choreographed by Jeannette Lajeunesse Zingg and directed by Marshall Pynkoski.
Written in the mid-1680s with text adapted from Virgil’s Aeneid, Purcell’s Dido tells the story of Dido, Queen of Carthage, and her deep love for Aeneas, the Prince of Troy. You’ll have to see it to find out how things turn out, but the opera ends with one of the Baroque era’s most iconic operatic arias, “Dido’s Lament,” which suggests that possibly not all ends well with our lovers in the paradise of antiquity…