Cape Consort: Venus and Adonis

Following the success of the first three parts of its highly popular Monteverdi Project, the Cape Consort returned to the Fugard Studio with the fourth part of this series, a presentation of the earliest surviving English opera, John Blow’s Venus and Adonis.

Venus and Adonis, Blow’s only dramatic work by Blow, was composed for the court of Charles II around 1683. The part of Venus was sung by Mary (Moll) Davies, the king’s former mistress, while their illegitimate daughter, Lady Mary Tudor, sang the role of Cupid. This work served as the model for Purcell’s Dido and Aeneas. Based on the classical myth, Venus and Adonis tell the story of Venus’ affair with Adonis and his death due to a mortal wound inflicted by an enormous boar.