Britten Sinfonia: Ancient Greek Meze with mezzo Helen Charlston + stand-up classicist Natalie Haynes

Helen Charlston mezzo-soprano
Natalie Haynes stand-up classicist
Britten Sinfonia

Britten Phaedra
Charpentier Quel prix de mon amour
John Woolrich Ulysses Awakes
Stravinsky Apollon musagète
Haydn Cantata: Arianna a Naxos

Love, loss, deception and revenge… join us for an atmospheric evening of pieces based on ancient Greek myths, interspersed with brilliant comedic commentary from the witty classicist Natalie Haynes, best known for her BBC Radio 4 series Stand up for the Classics.

This performance marks 50 years since the death of composer Benjamin Britten, with sublime mezzo-soprano Helen Charlston the soloist in his late micro-opera Phaedra. The contrasts between Phaedra's disgust at her own obsession with her stepson and the heartfelt expressions of her love for him are darkly and brilliantly conveyed in this condensed masterpiece.

“Hell hath no fury" is also the mood in Charpentier's opera about Medea and Haydn's depiction of Ariadne's abandonment by Theseus, while male protagonists fare better in Stravinsky's ballet music and Woolrich's shimmering re-write of a Monteverdi aria. 

The stories may be tragic, but in the company of Natalie Haynes there will be tears of laughter too, with the doomed woman stereotype providing plenty of provocative material.