The opera's good-humored fairy

In mythology and love, reason does not have much say. But much can be inferred from such stories. In the last years before his death in 19 BC, Virgil wrote the epic poem “Aeneid.” It describes the wanderings of the heroic prince Aeneas, who flees from Troy, which has just been set ablaze, and is sent by Zeus, the father of the gods, to Italy, where he is to found the Roman Empire. During a stopover in Carthage, Queen Dido grants him hospitality and touches his heart, which in turn touches hers. Yes, he is somehow in love with her, and she is definitely infatuated with him. Henry Purcell developed one of England's first through-composed operas from this heated constellation in the 1680s: “Dido and Aeneas.” From tender hope and powerful longing to happiness, grief, and death, the score reveals all the stages of a failing relationship—always hovering between desire and reality.

In the midst of it all, Belinda flits about, and it is not entirely clear whether she is Dido's sister, chambermaid, advisor, best friend, or lobbyist for romantic love, or perhaps even Aeneas' emissary. In any case, she encourages Dido in her surging passion and raves about Aeneas. How handsome he is. What a great guy he is. So desirable. Unfortunately, he is unavailable for children and family life. He is a hero figure, a vain adventurer, always on the move. His behavior sends out plenty of warning signals that women need to read in order to protect themselves from a toxic relationship. But Belinda sticks to her whisperings, confirming Dido in her euphoric but irrational affection. She helps her overcome sadness, loneliness, and doubt, remaining an emotional support. She is the opera's good-humored fairy. “My dream role, a totally lively character, pushy like a cheerleader, always happy. I can relate to her personality very well,” says soprano Carmen Callejas, who is enrolled in the fifth semester of her master's degree in early music singing at the University of the Arts (HfK) in Bremen.

And then, in November 2025, it was suddenly announced that the Theater Bremen was holding auditions for this role. HfK students were invited to audition. Of course, Carmen Callejas applied, performed two of Belinda's seven short arias – and won. In addition, HfK students Ida Grotke (soprano), Anastasia Lakka-Boni (alto), Alexander Schmidt (tenor), and Hwanyeong Jeong (bass) were hired for the opera choir. The musicians are also HfK students: Johanna Dall'Asta (violin), Ayano Shigematsu (violin), Tim Wei Lam (viola), Barbara Hartrumpf (cello), and Theo Small (double bass). The production premieres on March 28 and is directed by Kristina Franz. Like her colleagues Krzysztof Warlikowski at the Bavarian State Opera (2023) and Christian Tombeil at Theater Krefeld (2007), she attempts to combine the Baroque work with Arnold Schoenberg's monodrama “Erwartung.” The aim is to show “how beautiful Schoenberg can sound” and how, between Baroque and late Romantic modernism, “two destinies between suffering and life, longing and searching” were revealed, according to the Theater Bremen.

Right in the middle of it all: Carmen Callejas. The 27-year-old plans to hold her master's concert at the HfK Bremen in the summer semester of 2026 and submit her thesis. In it, she examines the biography of Antonia Padoani Bembo (1640-1720), an Italian composer. She is also studying for a Master of Advanced Vocal Ensemble Studies at the Schola Cantorum in Basel on a scholarship until March 2027. The singer earned her bachelor's degree at the HFMT in Hamburg, where she met Yu Sugimoto, the artistic director of the Purcell Opera. Carmen Callejas has also been working professionally for several years. For example, she has been singing in the RIAS Chamber Choir Berlin since she was an academician there in 2021/2022, recorded a CD with the group Cantoría in February 2026, and can be heard live with various chamber music ensembles. “You can work out more musical details personally than in large groups,” she says. Callejas is particularly fond of early Spanish music, the sounds of Mozart, and the Baroque. “But I also like new music.”

What she misses in concert life is acting. That is, performing. That is, opera. Where no one just stands there and sings, but everyone brings their own personality to the stage and everyone interacts with each other. So that a shared space is created between them, a shared reality in which the conflicts of the text, the characters, and the performers can be negotiated. In 2026, the stage should not be like it was in the 17th century, but should offer a contemporary interpretation of the material in terms of content and aesthetics. Today, a Baroque opera like “Dido and Aeneas” is primarily about conveying emotions in a contemporary way. “I'm really looking forward to it. My legs will be shaking a little before the performance, but then we'll get started.”

Callejas rehearsed the Belinda part years ago and even knew the melodies as a child, “because they are so catchy, which is why I learned to love opera and have already seen four productions of Dido and Aeneas, the first time when I was 12.” The artist began singing in a choir in her hometown of Granada (Spain) at the age of eight.

And what will her Belinda look like in Bremen? “Very girly,” says the singer. “I wear a wig and a modern costume with Baroque influences. I also play a witch in it, so I'm looking for the witch-like qualities in Belinda.” The witches themselves are wicked sorceresses, and they force Aeneas to leave. He has a divine mission and must not allow himself to be distracted by personal love. And so he bids farewell to Carthage, ending his possible affair with or love for Dido. She then sings her final lament and leaves the stage in a suicidal act. Broken heart. What does Belinda think about this? “We are still exploring in rehearsals who exactly Belinda is. Is she herself in love with Aeneas? Does she have a political agenda?” asks Callejas. But is her promotion of Aeneas' charms okay from today's perspective? Can what is going on between Dido and Aeneas still be staged as the great love that everyone dreams of? Carmen Callejas: "Dido is completely dependent on Aeneas, and he is never there. She is always waiting for him to rescue her from her life. She has no other goal than this man. And she suffers because of it. It's terrible. No, no, no, this is not a great love story, and that's what we want to show.“ Arnold Schoenberg's ”Erwartung," told in expressive musical language, fits in well with this as an equally unhealthy story of fixation—the soliloquy of a woman driven by anxiety, wandering through moonlit streets and a dark forest, searching for her lover and finding him dead. Twice, then, the experience of loss of a desperate woman who loves, but still stands in her own way. We can therefore expect an evening of theater full of emotional power and a virile Belinda who has to position herself between all fronts.

“It's a gift to be able to be here,” says Carmen Callejas. “And I owe that above all to my wonderful teacher Bettina Pahn at the HfK Bremen. When I came to Bremen to study, I was tired and blocked, but she freed me and made me more confident again.” And she helped her to sensibly place her love of singing in the classical music business even before she graduated. With the reference of having sung Belinda at the Theater Bremen, Callejas hopes for further engagements at other theaters. “Because I want to continue combining my singing with acting.”