'The Indian Queen' is a rarely performed yet intriguing opera by Henry Purcell (1659-1695), based on the play of the same name by John Dryden and Robert Howard. Purcell wrote much of his theatrical music in the final years of his life. During that period, it was popular in London theaters to combine dramatic stories with music, dance and spectacular scenery, a kind of musicals avant la lettre. The work contains some of his most beautiful arias, such as the serene 'I Attempt from Love's Sickness to Fly' and the majestic hymn 'You Twice Ten Hundred Deities', music that makes the hearts of baroque enthusiasts beat faster.

The original story concerns the love between the queen of Mexico (Zempoalla) and a mysterious Inca general and takes place during a war between the Incas and the Aztecs, two peoples who in reality never met each other. BarokOpera Amsterdam places it in a contemporary context.

Directed by Brazilian Ligiana Costa, the gaps in this unfinished opera are filled with stories of South Americans who have settled in the Netherlands, and their ancestors. Purcell's baroque music is enriched with music and indigenous sounds from Abya Yala, the indigenous name for the American continent.