The politics of national identity, the royal succession and parliamentary faction, all hot topics in the late 1600s, found their way into the plots of plays and semi-operas intended to delight and entertain London’s theatre-goers.
Purcell’s fine incidental music to pieces such as Shadwell’s The Libertine and D’Urfey’s A Fool’s Preferment set the scene for Dido and Aeneas, one of the most celebrated of all English operas, featuring Tenebrae Consort as the semi chorus and directed by Trevor Pinnock.