Relishing the challenge: mezzo-soprano Samantha Price on singing her first Dido in Purcell's opera on tour with English Touring Opera

Purcell: Dido & Aeneas in rehearsal - Michael Lafferty (Aeneas), Samantha Price (Dido) & ensemble - English Touring Opera (Photo: Craig Fuller)

As part of English Touring Opera's (ETO) Autumn season they are performing Purcell's Dido and Aeneas in a double bill with Elena Langer's 2002 opera Ariadne. Ariadne is directed by Anna Morrisey with Jessica Cale in the title role. Dido and Aeneas is directed by Rebecca Meltzer and conducted by Alex Robinson with Michael Lafferty as Aeneas and Samantha Price making her role debut as Dido. A graduate of the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama and a former Harewood Artist at English National Opera, Samantha sang the role of Romeo in ETO's 2025 production of Bellini's The Capulets & the Montagues [see my review].

When I spoke to Samantha, she was just at the beginning of rehearsals with ETO. Whilst she has not sung the role of Dido before she is familiar with the opera. Not only did she learn the aria (as most young mezzos probably do), but she sang the Sorceress in a production of the opera on the opera course at Dartington Hall (when Dartington College of Arts still existed). She comments that it feels a long time ago. She loves the role of Dido and relishes the challenge of it, particularly as the opera is so well known. She was introduced to the aria early and as a young singer found it useful having something in English.

The production of Dido and Aeneas (which is designed by Alex Berry) will be sharing the set with Ariadne and there is an element of keeping it abstract. The production is not specific to Roman mythology and they are aiming for a timeless feel. They want to present the plot as clearly as possible, particularly as there is not a lot of story. Rebecca Meltzer is working on unpicking the layers of myth and storytelling in the piece. Samantha points out that it is a short opera and Dido does not sing a great deal, with only two arias. There are important recits too, and though these are short they are very dense in plot. The story is very much part of the zeitgeist at the moment what with the release of Christopher Nolan's film, The Odyssey, and the popularising of mythology. This is something that they have been talking about in rehearsals, making the audience feel the sense of the work.

Bellini: The Capulets & the Montagues - Samantha Price (Romeo) - English Touring Opera 2025 (Photo: Richard Hubert Smith)

By contrast, the role of Romeo (which she sang with ETO last year) is massive and far more strenuous. That the two roles presented different challenges to Samantha is something she really enjoys. Based on her experience with Romeo, Samantha is really looking forward to ETO's tour. Dido & Aeneas is being performed in seven venues from 9 October to 21 November. This is rather different to performing in a single venue, where you can get more comfortable with the environment and the logistics, and develop a routine. Samantha thinks that the touring element keeps you on your toes, you have to be extra organised and allow plenty of time on the day.

Every theatre is different and each requires a sound check, and some might need the set to be adjusted. But there is only so much that can be done in the hour or so they have, and she admits that sometimes you find problems in the middle of the show. That said, Samantha quite likes a challenge and feels that it keeps you alert, making sure that you check in with the conductor and colleagues. There is certainly no opportunity to get comfortable and bored.

That ETO brings opera to the whole country is amazing, making it accessible; she feels it is well worth the challenge. It enables her to see such different auditoriums, rather than setting set in the same few theatres. Her tour with ETO last year was the first time she had been in Buxton Opera House.

For Dido, Samantha has been focusing on the storytelling. She feels you need to hone in on the psychological aspect of the role, the change that Dido goes through in order to justify what happens at the end. Samantha wants the audience to be able to see how Dido gets there. She has just gone to see The Odyssey film, and she enjoys delving into the classics. She has been doing a lot of research on the backstory, reading Virgil. For her, this is necessary because the opera's action drops you right in, assuming the audience knows the backstory - what happened to Dido and to Aeneas before the opera, which means also picking apart the opera.

Purcell: Dido & Aeneas in rehearsal - Samantha Price (Dido), Michael Lafferty (Aeneas) - English Touring Opera (Photo: Craig Fuller)

There are reasons why Dido is not in a good place at the start of the opera! Her father died, her brother was murdered and her husband died. In Virgil's poem she takes an oath not to marry again, her Queendom is her priority. All these events make complete sense of what happens in the opera, why she does not initially trust Aeneas. He comes with certain risks, but she is persuaded by the court. Yet he is charming, too good to be true. If these ideas are clear than you have all the more understanding why his betrayal hits her so hard.

At ETO the director has logistical challenges in putting together the staging as they are sharing rehearsal spaces and time schedules with ETO's other production this Autumn, Gluck's Orpheus & Euridice, and some singers are in both operas!

The last few years have seen Gilbert & Sullivan being something of a focus for Samantha, with performances in Princess Ida with National G & S Company, The Yeomen of the Guard at Opera Holland Park [see my review], and Iolanthe at English National Opera [see my review]. She has enjoyed working with artists such as John Savournin (both as singer and director), and regards Cal McCrystal (who directed Iolanthe at ENO) as a genius, he understands exactly what the audience enjoys. Performing in Princess Ida in Buxton was eye-opening for her, as she came to appreciate the Gilbert & Sullivan Festival's loyal fanbase.

But she admits that she just loves performing. She did not grow up with G&S; if anything it was Rodgers & Hammerstein, so G&S is not in her blood. But it is a world that she has enjoyed exploring and which she has a lot of fun with. She enjoys comic acting and singing in English. She regards herself as an actress who loves to sing and enjoys the challenge of dialogue, something you don't get to do in a lot of other opera.

Bizet: Carmen - Samantha Price - Waterperry Opere Festival 2023 (Photo: © Ellie Kurttz)

In 2023 she sang the title role in Bizet's Carmen for Waterperry Opera Festival. The director was Anna Morrisey, who is directing Ariadne for ETO. This summer, Samantha returned to Waterperry for an early evening one-woman show based on the writings and the music of Hildegard of Bingen, directed by Rebecca Meltzer (who directs Dido & Aeneas for ETO). This was an immersive piece, Living Light, using using recordings of Hildegard's writing, atmospheric lighting and more in the church at Waterperry. This wasn't music she had sung before, but they tried to put together an emotional journey, bringing in a bit of calm to busy modern day life.

English Touring Opera's double bill of Elena Langer's Ariadne and Purcell's Dido & Aeneas opens in Sheffield on 9 October and tours to the Hackney Empire (17 October), Buxton Opera House (24 October), Snape Maltings (31 October), Barnstaple (2 November), Malvern (14 November), and Saffron Hall (21 November). Further details.

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