Purcell, Henry: Dido & Aeneas

Early Music Today (Jun, 2016)
Dido and Æneas recorded by Le Poème Harmonique, with Vincent Dumestre conducting a period band with an astonishing power of emotion and subtle blend of vocal and instrumental timbres. The set evokes 17th-century stage effects, with ever-present blue silk waves which undulate seductively, then threateningly and finally fatally as they take Dido to her death.

Dido is the Alaskan mezzo Vivica Genaux, flawless apart from a lip-wobble that seems to be part of her vibrato technique. From the beginning she projects the doom that awaits her: momentary happiness with the flighty Aeneas is all she can expect. Aeneas is splendidly sung by Dutch baritone Henk Neven, but the role of the …