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HENRY PURCELL
(1659-1695)
Dido and Aeneas
69:49
An opera in three acts
Libretto by Nahum Tate
1.
Overture
2:04
Act One
2.
'Shake the cloud from off your brow'
1:08
Belinda, Chorus
3.
'Ah! Belinda I am prest with torment' - Air
6:40
Dido
4.
'Grief increases by concealing'
0:50
Belinda, Dido, Chorus
5.
'Whence could so much virtue spring?'
4:22
Dido, Belinda, Second Woman, Chorus
6.
'See, your royal guest appears'
0:53
Belinda, Aeneas, Dido, Chorus
7.
'Cupid only throws the dart'
0:40
Chorus
8.
'If not for mine, for Empire's sake' - 'Pursue they conquest, Love'
1:09
Aeneas, Belinda
9.
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
Notes
PURCELL: DIDO AND AENEAS
This Chandos featured release is a brand new recording of one the first English operatic masterpieces, Purcell’s Dido and Aeneas. Sarah Connolly and Gerald Finley take the title roles with the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment conducted from the keyboard by Elizabeth Kenny and Steven Devine. This version of the opera is based on the sort of performance which would have been known in Purcell’s day, with dances as part of the ensemble. Sarah Connolly writes of the project: ‘It seems I have known Purcell’s Dido all my life and feel able to express myself in this music like no other. As a character Dido fascinates me to the point of obsession.’ Connolly sings regularly with the Orchestra and they will perform this opera together at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden in March 2009.
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Reviews
“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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