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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
64 of 65 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD
Dame Janet's portrayal of Dido is historically the most successful, and this is undoubtably the best recording of Purcell's masterpiece. What makes this set so brilliant is Baker's sensitive response to the music, her uncanny ability to seek out the emotional nuances of the score and expose them, raw and shining. This is true vocal acting, and she displays her skill most movingly, possibly one of the most emotive pieces of early English song. She is supported by a strong and talented Belinda and a satisfactory Aeneas. The Sorceress is also an incredible piece of theatre. An all round superior recording to any on the market.
26 of 27 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD
This is a true masterpiece. Of course Janet Baker is legendary as Dido, but everything else about this recording is wonderful too. Of particular interest is the recording quality, which shows what Decca could do back in 1962. Those old Neumann M50 microphones used by engineer Kenneth Wilkinson have arguably never been surpassed, or even equalled -just look at the used prices!
It's great that such a wonderful and historic performance was captured so beautifully.
It's great that such a wonderful and historic performance was captured so beautifully.
27 of 29 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD
Henry Purcell's (1659-1695) opera "Dido and Aeneas" tells, in approximately one hour, of the frustrated passion of Dido, queen of Carthage, for the Trojan hero Aeneas, whose destiny it is to found Rome. The opera is based upon Virgil's Aeneid with a highly compressed libretto by Nahum Tate. Purcell's opera includes three parts for women and only one, Aeneas, for a male. The brief opera is in three Acts. According to "The New Grove Book of Operas", Purcell based his work on an earlier English opera, "Venus and Adonis" by John Blow. With its heavy emphasis on dance and chorus, "Dido and Aeneas" also draws heavily on French baroque opera.
This reissue of a 1961 recording of a young Janet Baker in the role of Dido is an outstanding way to get to know Purcell's only opera. Baker performed "Dido and Aeneas" many times during her career. Her voice is glowing and rich. She sings with force of Dido's initially repressed love and her soon-to-be dashed love. Interestingly, Dame Baker's most famous role was another Dido -- in Berlioz' lengthy opera, "The Trojans". Anthony Lewis conducts the English Chamber Orchestra with a supporting cast of Patricia Clark as Dido's confidante Belinda, Raimund Herincx as Aeneas and Monica Sinclair as a snarling Sorceress. I greatly enjoyed the cello obligato which permeates this opera.
For all its brevity, the opera encompasses a wide variety of emotion and scenes. The opera makes great use of the chorus. In general, after an aria by one of the principals, the chorus comments extensively, much in the manner of a Greek tragedy. Sometimes the chorus repeats the music of the soloist, but at other times it takes themes of its own. In "Dido and Aeneas" the chorus appears in scenes involving the court at Carthage, as huntsmen, witches, and sailors. It also appears at the close of the opera, following the death of Dido, in elegaic music of comfort.
In addition to his use of the chorus, Purcell uses the dance as a key element of his story. In "Dido and Aeneas", there are dance scenes displaying the love of Dido, a dance of the furies, who plot to destroy her happiness, an erotic dance for Aeneas, performed by Dido's entourage, a sailors' hornpipe, and a witches' dance in which the sorceress and her compatriots celebrate their destruction of the couple.
In the concluding scene of the opera, Janet Baker powerfully sings Dido's
sad and stark lament for the loss of Aeneas and for her impending death accompanied to a dirge-like theme in the orchestra. This is music of great tragedy.
This CD includes a complete libretto and good program notes. It is an wonderful way to experience an early operatic masterpiece.
Robin Friedman
This reissue of a 1961 recording of a young Janet Baker in the role of Dido is an outstanding way to get to know Purcell's only opera. Baker performed "Dido and Aeneas" many times during her career. Her voice is glowing and rich. She sings with force of Dido's initially repressed love and her soon-to-be dashed love. Interestingly, Dame Baker's most famous role was another Dido -- in Berlioz' lengthy opera, "The Trojans". Anthony Lewis conducts the English Chamber Orchestra with a supporting cast of Patricia Clark as Dido's confidante Belinda, Raimund Herincx as Aeneas and Monica Sinclair as a snarling Sorceress. I greatly enjoyed the cello obligato which permeates this opera.
For all its brevity, the opera encompasses a wide variety of emotion and scenes. The opera makes great use of the chorus. In general, after an aria by one of the principals, the chorus comments extensively, much in the manner of a Greek tragedy. Sometimes the chorus repeats the music of the soloist, but at other times it takes themes of its own. In "Dido and Aeneas" the chorus appears in scenes involving the court at Carthage, as huntsmen, witches, and sailors. It also appears at the close of the opera, following the death of Dido, in elegaic music of comfort.
In addition to his use of the chorus, Purcell uses the dance as a key element of his story. In "Dido and Aeneas", there are dance scenes displaying the love of Dido, a dance of the furies, who plot to destroy her happiness, an erotic dance for Aeneas, performed by Dido's entourage, a sailors' hornpipe, and a witches' dance in which the sorceress and her compatriots celebrate their destruction of the couple.
In the concluding scene of the opera, Janet Baker powerfully sings Dido's
sad and stark lament for the loss of Aeneas and for her impending death accompanied to a dirge-like theme in the orchestra. This is music of great tragedy.
This CD includes a complete libretto and good program notes. It is an wonderful way to experience an early operatic masterpiece.
Robin Friedman
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
classic Dido
This is a superb recording of early Janet Baker in Dido by Purcell. In addition to the depth and resonance of the legendary singer the performance overall is intensely dramatic and... Read more
Published 2 months ago by Junius
Dido and Aeneas
I have had this CD for some weeks now,I also have four other versions.
This one has for me a solitary beauty not quite found in the other "modern" versions,though they are... Read more
This one has for me a solitary beauty not quite found in the other "modern" versions,though they are... Read more
Published 6 months ago by K. C. C. Stephens
Purcell: Dido and Aeneas
This particular CD was recommended as a worthwhile addition to my collection.
Not having much experience of Purcell's music - but I have heard of Janet Baker - I decided... Read more
Not having much experience of Purcell's music - but I have heard of Janet Baker - I decided... Read more
Published 19 months ago by Mrs. D. A. Allitt
Simply Glorious
It is sometimes too easy to allow ones initial impressions of a piece of music, or a particular recording, to become the standard by which all others are judged. Read more
Published on 17 April 2009 by James I
Pompous & ponderous
I adore this opera but it can be so much more. The singing here is good but for me wrong for this work; and the CD's overall dramatic effectiveness is even less than the sum of the... Read more
Published on 6 April 2009 by Felix
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