Purcell: Dido and Aeneas / James, Lewis, Baker, Herincx
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CD Details
Composer: Henry PurcellConductor: Anthony Lewis
Performer: Thurston Dart
Performer: Janet Baker
Orchestra: English Chamber Orchestra
Performer: Monica Sinclair
Performer: Patricia Clark
Performer: Raimund Herincx
Edition: Music CD
Format: Original recording reissued, Original recording remastered
CD Release Date: 2000-04-11
Music Label: Decca
Soundtracks:
- Overture
- Act 1: "Shake the cloud from off your brow"
- Act 1: "Ah! Belinda, I am prest with torment"
- Act 1: "Whence could so much virtue spring?"
- Act 1: "Fear no danger to ensue"
- Act 1: "See, your royal guest appears"
- Act 2: Prelude for the Witches - Wayward sisters
- Act 2: "Ruin'd ere the set of sun?"
- Act 2: Ritornelle - "Thanks to these lonesome vales"
- Act 2: "Oft she visits this lone mountain"
- Act 2: "Behold, upon my bending spear"
- Act 2: "Stay, Prince, and hear great Jove's command"
- Act 3: Prelude - "Come away, fellow sailors"
- Act 3: "See the flags and streamers curling"
- Act 3: "Your counsel all is urg'd in vain"
- Act 3: "But Death, alas!... When I am laid in earth"
- Act 3: "With drooping wings ye Cupids come"
Music reviews of Purcell: Dido and Aeneas / James, Lewis, Baker, Herincx
Music Review: The Model Dido and Aeneas
Rating: 5 Stars
This recording occupies a very special place in my heart. It was the first recording to show me how vast a difference there can be between a good performance and a great performance. Formerly, I had been listening to a BBC recording I had picked up for a dollar somewhere. I read that the present performance of Purcell's compact masterpiece really was special. When I received the recording as a gift, I began to see exactly what the writers of those articles meant.
Janet Baker is an amazing Dido. Her "Ah, Belinda" is chillingly beautiful. Her other large solo, the lament in Act 3, is chilling in a different way. Emotion isn't the word for it.
As Aeneas, Raimund Hernicx is occasionally rough, but always in excellent character. His deep voice suits the role well; he portrays Aeneas very masculinely.
Patricia Clark's Belinda is lovely. Monica Sinclair gives a sinister (perhaps even blood-curdling) Sorceress, backed well by Rhianon James and Catherine Wilson as the First and Second Witch respectively. John Mitchinson is a heady First Sailor, giving his single song ("Com away, fellow sailors") with excellent verve.
The chorus is also excellent, though the 1961 recording gives a slight edge to the male chorus at times. The English Chamber Orchestra play well for Anthony Lewis, who picks excellent tempi and ensures a pleasing variety of dynamics. Thurston Dart's support on the harpsichord is equally distinguished.
Purcell outdid himself with the music. It is compact, lovely, dramatic, everything a baroque opera should be. Whereas Berlioz takes three hours to tell the story of Dido and Aeneas (which he does excellently) in Les Troyens, Purcell takes less than one. Purcell's version concludes far more quietly, with the choral lament "With drooping wings ye Cupids come."
At the time of this writing, this Decca CD may be purchased for under $5 used. Though I'm generally not one to fawn over classic performances, I can say with confidence that that is truly a bargain. This recording should classic regardless of its date.
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