East Sussex Bach Choir in concert

East Sussex Bach Choir will be performing a concert version of Henry Purcell’s rarely performed dramatic opera King Arthur in Lewes Town Hall on Saturday, June 10 at 7pm.

Spokeswoman Val Davies said: “The original libretto of this fascinating work was written by the poet John Dryden as a piece of political propaganda in support of Charles II but was not set to music by Henry Purcell until William & Mary had ascended the throne, being first performed in 1691. Our performance will have an updated version of the original Dryden narration. The choir will be joined by five superb soloists: Gwendolen Martin and Alexandra Kidgell (sopranos), Alec D’0yly (counter tenor), Nick Pritchard (tenor) and Timothy Nelson (baritone), accompanied by the Baroque Collective (leader Alison Bury) with musical director John Hancorn.”

Tickets are available online from eastsussexbachchoir.org.uk

“King Arthur will be the final concert of a wonderful concert season for the choir, which began in December with a trip to sing Bach’s Christmas Oratorio with the Kantorei Hochrhein of Waldshut in southern Germany, one of Lewes’s twin towns. The Bach Choir and Kantorei have now established a firm musical friendship, following our first combined concert in Lewes last May and we hope to perform together again in the near future. In January ESBC repeated Bach’s Christmas Oratorio to a packed Lewes Town Hall. This was followed by two wonderful performances of Brahm’s German Requiem, in Lewes and Alfriston.”