Henry Purcell’s greatest late theatre work, is based on a tragedy by Sir Robert Howard and John Dryden, originally put on in 1664. It was adapted as a dramatic-opera (a spoken play with elaborate musical interludes) probably by Thomas Betterton in 1695.
The plot depends on the audience knowing little or nothing about the Americas and their history, for it involves accepting that the Inca and Aztec empires in ancient Peru and Mexico are adjacent and at war. The plot concerns the Aztec queen Zempoalla, and her unrequited love for Montezuma, a warrior of unknown origin; he leads the Incas to victory, only to have his suit for Princess Orazia rejected, whereupon he changes sides. Purcell died before he could complete The Indian Queen, so we conclude the concert with a rare performance of the delightful masque he contributed to Shakespeare’s Timon of Athens, also composed in 1695.

Tickets:
£20 (Standard)
£18 (students)
Free (young people)