👉 Dido and Aeneas–Warner Classics/Erato
Joyce DiDonato (Dido), Michael Spyres (Aeneas), Fatma Said (Belinda), Beth Taylor (Sorceress), Hugh Cutting (Spirit), Laurence Kilsby (Sailor), Il Pomo d’Oro Choir, Il Pomo d’Oro, Maxim Emelyanychev (conductor).
📅 Recorded 16–18 February 2024, Philharmonie Essen
🔗 Available on all streaming platforms
By Damián Autorino
Editor at Moto Perpetuo
Few operas occupy such a singular place in music history as Henry Purcell’s Dido and Aeneas. Its brevity, intensity, and sheer beauty have fascinated audiences for more than three centuries. When a cast of major voices comes together under a conductor of strong personality, the expectations are inevitably high. In this new Warner Classics release, those expectations are not only met, but surpassed.
At the centre stands Joyce DiDonato, whose artistry anchors the performance. She brings a profound sense of vulnerability and inner strength to the Queen of Carthage, reminding us that technique only serves the expression of emotion. Her reading of Dido’s Lament — perhaps the most moving farewell aria in the operatic repertoire — is delivered with delicacy, clarity, and an extraordinary ability to make every word resonate.
Il Pomo d’Oro and Maxim Emelyanychev, continuing a collaboration that began with the 2022 Eden project, offer more than accompaniment: their continuo and strings shape the drama with agility and imagination. The orchestral colours are vivid, from the storm effects in Act II — where percussion adds striking atmosphere — to the subtle interplay that supports the singers.
Among the cast, Fatma Said shines as Belinda. She projects warmth and loyalty in her exchanges with Dido, and her voice soars with brilliance in Thanks to these lonesome vales, where her interaction with the chorus creates one of the most luminous moments of the recording. Her presence brings youthful energy and a touch of radiance that perfectly contrasts with Dido’s gravity.
Beth Taylor combines vocal power with theatrical flair as the Sorceress, painting malevolence with relish. Michael Spyres provides a noble and versatile Aeneas, his timbre ideally suited to the role’s mixture of ardour and hesitation.
The Il Pomo d’Oro Choir deserves equal mention. They are not merely commentators but active participants in the drama, their voices shaping both the joyous celebrations and the darker scenes. In the witch episodes, their mocking “Ha! ha! ha!” choruses add a sinister edge, embodying the cruelty and delight in destruction that drive the plot forward. At the other extreme, their final lament “With drooping wings” brings the opera to a close with hushed intensity, underlining the tragedy of Dido’s fate.
Together, this “dream team” of soloists, choir, and orchestra turns one of the earliest English operas into an urgent and deeply human drama.
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