Pickett & New London Consort: Purcell

About the Event

Premiered in May of 1690 at the Queen’s Theatre in London, Henry Purcell’s Dioclesian evokes the accession to power of the Roman emperor of the same name, alternating spoken and sung passages in a tragicomedy of cynical humor which enjoyed great popularity into the 18th century. Thomas Betteron, Purcell’s librettist, had originally written the text for a play by John Fletcher and Philip Massinger called The Prophetess, which was loosely based on the life of the same Roman ruler. The intervention of a monster at the end of Act II leads to a fascinating Danse des furies.

The theater music composed by Purcell for the play Bonduca in 1695 forcefully evokes the bloody revolt of the Celtic queen Boadicée and her general Caratacus against Roman invaders.

Both works on this evening's program will be performed in concert version.