The Indian Queen (Z. 630) is a largely unfinished semi-opera with music by Henry Purcell, first performed at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane, London, in 1695. The exact date is unknown, but Peter Holman surmises it may have been in June. It was created as a revised version of the 1664 play The Indian Queen, in a prologue and five acts, by John Dryden and his brother-in-law Sir Robert Howard. More specifically, in 1694, Thomas Betterton was given £50 to transform the play into an opera, and he commissioned Purcell to compose the music. Purcell, who died in November 1695, left music only for the Prologue and Acts II and III. His brother Daniel completed a masque for Act V. The Indian Queen is one of Purcell's less often performed stage works. This is probably more a reflection of the incomplete state of the score than of its quality.

Sellars' 2013 production

The 2013 Peter Sellars production of the Indian Queen with Tchaikovsky Perm Opera and Ballet Theatre (Perm), Teatro Real (Madrid), and English National Opera (London) rewrote Purcell and Dryden's to tell the story of the Spanish Conquista. Sellers drew on a book by the Nicaraguan writer Rosario Aguilar. Stage design was done by American Artist Gronk drawing on Mayan markings. The production received mixed responses from spectators. About these responses Sellars said, “[the spectators] don’t understand that a work like this is about trying to complete a journey together through difficult issues and history.”

Synopsis

Some years before the Spanish Conquest in Mesoamerica—the court then war conflict between kings of Peru and Mexico.

Musical numbers

Recordings