Purcell: Dido and Aeneas Orchestral & Concertos Opera Chaconne

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HENRY PURCELL

(1659-1695)

Dido and Aeneas

69:49

An opera in three acts

Libretto by Nahum Tate

Overture

2:04

Act One

'Shake the cloud from off your brow'

1:08

Belinda, Chorus

'Ah! Belinda I am prest with torment' - Air

6:40

Dido

'Grief increases by concealing'

0:50

Belinda, Dido, Chorus

'Whence could so much virtue spring?'

4:22

Dido, Belinda, Second Woman, Chorus

'See, your royal guest appears'

0:53

Belinda, Aeneas, Dido, Chorus

'Cupid only throws the dart'

0:40

Chorus

'If not for mine, for Empire's sake' - 'Pursue they conquest, Love'

1:09

Aeneas, Belinda

Gittars Chacony

2:32

10.

'To the hills and vales'

1:03

Chorus

11.

Triumphing Dance

1:26

Act Two

12.

Prelude - 'Wayward sisters' - 'Harms our delight'

2:12

Sorceress, Witches

13.

'The Queen of Carthage' - 'Ho ho ho!'

0:40

Sorceress, Chorus

14.

'Ruin'd 'ere the set of sun?' - 'Ho ho ho!'

2:26

Witches, Sorceress, Chorus

15.

'In our deep vaulted cell the charm we'll prepare'

1:19

Chorus

16.

Echo Dance of Furies

1:16

17.

Ritornelle

0:50

18.

'Thanks to these lonsome vales'

2:59

Belinda, Chorus

19.

Gittars Passacaille

3:05

20.

'Oft she visits this lone mountain'

1:47

Second Woman

21.

'Behold, upon my bending spear' - 'Haste, haste to town'

1:22

Aeneas, Belinda, Chorus, Dido

22.

'Stay, Prince, and hear great Jove's command'

2:38

Spirit, Aeneas

23.

'Then since our charms have sped' - The Groves' Dance

1:31

Chorus

Act Three

24.

Prelude - 'Come away, fellow sailors' - The Sailors' Dance

2:17

First Sailor, Chorus

25.

'See the flags and streamers curling'

1:02

Sorceress, Witches

26.

'Our next motion'

1:16

Sorceress, Chorus

27.

The Witches' Dance

1:22

28.

Almand - 'Your counsel all is urg'd in vain'

7:47

Dido, Belinda, Aeneas

29.

'Great minds against themselves conspire'

1:00

Chorus

30.

'Thy hand, Belinda, darkness shades me' - 'When I am laid in earth'

5:05

Dido

31.

'With drooping wings ye Cupids come'

4:51

Chorus

Solo: Gerald Finley baritone - Aeneas

Solo: John Mark Ainsley tenor - Sailor

Solo: Carys Lane soprano - First Witch and Chorus

Solo: Rebecca Outram soprano - Second Witch and Chorus

Choral: Choir of the Enlightenment

Orchestra: Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment

Conductor: Elizabeth Kenny

Conductor: Steven Devine Conductor

23-25 June 2008

“The care and love that has gone into this recording shines out from the very first notes.” “… All the cast, made of some of the finest British early music talent of our time, deliver the text brilliantly – not a word misses its mark, This is a definitive Dido and Aeneas, deserving of the highest praise.” Ashutosh Khandekar

Early Music Today - August/September 2009

Played with poise and clarity that we have come to expect of the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment, this is a beautiful performance.

Opera Now

From the outset, Connolly exudes imposing presence, pathos and unassailable dignity; her Act III Lament consummates a deeply-felt empathy with the role… Purcell year will doubtless bring a crop of highly cherishable performances; Connolly’s Dido already sets the bar decidedly high.

BBC Music Magazine 'Choice'

Here is England’s first great opera presented with a truly cohesive sense of theatrical purpose, one which unusually allows the drama to unfold in a close identification with each of the cameo characters… we have a supremely wide-ranging, tragic and experienced queen from the start, inhabiting the shadows of ‘Ah! Belinda’ with early signs of deplorable fate, which are accentuated by an extended symphony luxuriating poignantly on this resonating conceit… Lucy Crow’s Belinda is a splendid foil for Connolly’s self-absorption, with her astute and increasingly desperate buoying up.

Gramophone Editor’s Choice

There are many recordings of Dido and Aeneas, and I am convinced that this one must rank among the finest. Sarah Connolly assembled the cast and played a major part in the artistic decisions, including the insertion of pieces of additional music. She brings to the role of Dido a regal gravity that is indispensable for a convincing portrayal… The success or failure of a performance of Dido can depend on the celebrated lament. Here Sarah Connolly takes a very slow tempo, but the dramatic tension and musical direction are never in jeopardy. It is an exquisitely eloquent reading.

American Record Guide

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