The Sixteen Choir and Orchestra, Wigmore Hall

As part of a Purcell series at Wigmore Hall, The Sixteen Choir performs The Indian Queen on September 17

The old bus rule seems to apply to Purcell’s operas, too: you wait for months, if not years, for one to come along, and suddenly two turn up. There’s a performance of the great Dido and Aeneas in July; then, in September, Harry Christophers will bring his magnificent Sixteen Choir to the Wigmore Hall to perform The Indian Queen. 

Based on a play written by Robert Howard and John Dryden in 1664, The Indian Queen actually takes place in South America in the years before the Spanish invasion. It’s set against a backdrop of conflict between the kings of Mexico and Peru, culminating in the triumph of Montezuma, with plenty of love, death and meddling from capricious spirits and sorcerers in between. What makes it so much more than a madcap 17th century curio, of course, is Purcell’s splendid score – full of light and shade, delight, despair and mischief.  

Alongside this, The Sixteen will be performing a couple of other works by Purcell, including two written for his great patron, King Charles II. Harry Christophers’ choral group are always a delight to hear – and if anyone can bring out the freshness and vitality this music would have had on the Restoration stage, it’s them.