Editor’s choice

BAROQUE BEAUTY In his short life, 17th-century composer Henry Purcell wielded all the major vocal and instrumental genres of his time—sacred and otherwise. When Canadian soprano Karina Gauvin and nine-piece ensemble Les Boréades de Montréal perform Works by Henry Purcell, the program will include songs and airs from his English semi-operas King Arthur, The Fairy Queen, and The

Comical History of Don Quixote, as well as the lament from his only full opera, Dido and Aeneas. It’s a chance to revel in the talent of a master dubbed Orpheus Brittanicus for his expressivity—and to find out why Opera News has called the charismatic Gauvin “the Queen of baroque opera”. The much-anticipated collaboration with Vancouver Opera brings Early Music Vancouver’s season to a final flourish.

Karina Gauvin and Les Boréades de Montréal perform Works by Henry Purcell at Christ Church Cathedral on Friday (April 21).