Vytautas Lukočius
Conductor
Aistė Pilibavičiūtė
Dido, the queen of Carthage
Monika Pleškytė
Belinda, Dido’s handmaid
Evelina Volodkovič
Second woman, handmaiden
Tomas Pavilionis
Aeneas, Trojan prince
Ovidijus Astrauskas
Sorcerer; Spirit in the form of Mercury
Joana Gedmintaitė
First witch
Julija Stupnianek-Kalėdienė
Second witch
Laurynas Aksamitas
First sailor
The LNOBT Open festival has its own special night each year, presenting the premiere of the festival. This year it is a theatrical production of H. Purcell's royal baroque opera Dido and Aeneas. The opera's music director and conductor is Vytautas Lukočius, and the production's director is a guest from Budapest, Dora Barta; fellow artists Ildi Tihanyi (scenography), Andrea Kovacs (costumes) and Zoltan Katonka (lights) will work together with her. In the courtyard of the Palace of the Grand Dukes, on the stage of the festival we shall witness the performance that was first presented at the Hungarian Opera – it has been a great success, has been shown for several seasons, and was accompanied by an educational programme.
Dido and Aeneas is the only opera written by Henry Purcell (1689), and it is generally one of the first operas written in England. Its plot tells the classic mythological legend about the love between Dido, a refugee from Tyre who became the queen of Carthage, and Aeneas, the hero of the Trojan War. Unfortunately, each of their fates is decided, and their love is doomed to a tragic end. Aeneas, submitting to fate, leaves Dido, who dies of a broken heart. Dido's lament at the end of this drama is one of the most beautiful musical pearls not only of H. Purcell, but also of baroque music in general.
