State Opera Presents DIDO & AENEAS at Plant 4 Bowden

The State Opera of South Australia will present a new addition to its 2018 season at the unique venue of a former electrical factory.

Now a vibrant community hub and marketplace, Plant 4 Bowden hosts State Opera's dramatic retelling of Dido & Aeneas from October 2-7.

State Opera Artistic Director Stuart Maunder said the immersive production "will be unlike anything Adelaide's opera-going audiences have seen before".

Audience members will sit at tables with a central stage and watch the opera unfold around them while enjoying South Australian food and wine.

One of the first English language operas ever written, Dido & Aeneas features Henry Purcell's sensual and exquisite musical score including Dido's famous Lament.

Based on Virgil's Aeneid, the opera tells the story of Dido, Queen of Carthage and her fateful love for Trojan war hero Aeneas. Their passionate story is chronicled through some of the most beautiful music ever written.

Director Nicholas Cannon said the State Opera production would provide a contemporary interpretation of this classic romance.

"It will be set in a war-torn future world brought to the brink by the consuming love affair between and queen and a hero with no country to call home," he said.

Conducted by Luke Dollman, the cast includes an exciting array of young Australian opera talent - South

Australian soprano Bethany Hill as Dido, Victorian baritone Raphael Wong as Aeneas and soprano Kate

Macfarlane as Belinda. Renowned mezzo-soprano Elizabeth Campbell appears as The Sorceress.

Dido & Aeneas will also feature young artists of the Elder Conservatorium of Music as chorus, minor roles and orchestra.

For more information, please visit saopera.sa.gov.au or phone (08) 8226 4790.

Tickets start at $45 and are available via TryBooking and the State Opera website: https://saopera.sa.gov.au/dido-and-aeneas