# After Purcell's Dido and Aeneas



## Op.123 (Mar 25, 2013)

One of the most popular Baroque operas and Purcell's most famous. Are there any other mid-Baroque operas that you feel are overlooked or worth some attention? Which performances are the best and which performers were most successful in this repertoire?


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## Seattleoperafan (Mar 24, 2013)

Alceste and The Coronation of Poppea. Do I get an A? Jessye Norman was a big success as was Flagstad in Alceste. I have a contest with Coronation and I saw a production.


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## Op.123 (Mar 25, 2013)

Seattleoperafan said:


> Alceste and The Coronation of Poppea. Do I get an A? Jessye Norman was a big success as was Flagstad in Alceste. I have a contest with Coronation and I saw a production.


 Alceste is Gluck which is classical and we've already had a thread for early Baroque, this is more for those looking for more obscure works composed by Purcell or any contemporaries. These first threads might be a bit bare as there are fewer operas until you get into the romantic era.


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## Seattleoperafan (Mar 24, 2013)

Op.123 said:


> Alceste is Gluck which is classical and we've already had a thread for early Baroque, this is more for those looking for more obscure works composed by Purcell or any contemporaries. These first threads might be a bit bare as there are fewer operas until you get into the romantic era.


I am older but not wiser than you  You notice I don't' have many contests from that era for a reason I don't know it well.


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## Op.123 (Mar 25, 2013)

Seattleoperafan said:


> I am older but not wiser than you  You notice I don't' have many contests from that era for a reason I don't know it well.


Nor do I to be honest so hopefully someone comes along with some nice recommendations!


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## RICK RIEKERT (Oct 9, 2017)

If your taste extends to the French Baroque, I recommend Lully’s splendid operas which are contemporaneous with Purcell’s _Dido and Aeneas_. For example, his _Phaéton_ in the recording by Marc Minkowski; _Alceste_ conducted by Christopher Rousset; _Atys_ with William Christie and Les Arts Florissants; _Armide_ in either of Herreweghe’s recordings; and _Persée_ in a beautifully produced 2004 DVD conducted by Hervé Niquet.

_Il Trespolo Tutore_, the only comic opera by Alessandro Stradella, has received a fine recent world premiere recording by Ensemble Mare Nostrum under the direction of Andrea De Carlo. It is part of the Stradella Project, a series of performances and recordings intended to bring this great composer's neglected works to life.


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## fjf (Nov 4, 2014)

Handel. To name a couple, Giulio Cesare and Tamerlano. But there are many others, and oratorios...


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## Kreisler jr (Apr 21, 2021)

Handel's Italian operas are quite different from Dido & Aeneas. I am not familiar with late 17th century French operas (don't really like singing in French much) but a piece by Handel closer to Purcell's Dido would be Acis and Galatea (very well known, so op.123 probably knows that already). Even closer to Purcell would be John Blow: Venus and Adonis 
That story is referenced in Dido in the hunting scene where Aeneas has slain a huge boar as quasi-revenge for the one that killed Adonis ("Venus' huntsman") and Venus is Aeneas' mother...


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## ColdGenius (9 mo ago)

It is interesting that when I think of this period (end of XVII century) I remember quite a few operas, but more non-operatic music. Perhaps they are rarely performed and recorded or I just have gaps in my knowledge. As if opera flourished with Monteverdi and Cavalli, further took a pause and bursted again with Handel and his contemporaries Porpora, Rameau and some others. 
Among Purcell's works _King Arthur, Indian queen, Queen of fairies should _be mentioned. There were several productions last 20-30 years. William Christie recorded them. Except Purcell there was great Lully, mentioned by Rick Rieckert. I watched _Persee _on DVD, a beautiful Canadian production. Bach, Couperin, Marin Marais and his legendary teacher Saint-Colombe are mostly non-operatic composers, though I saw on Mezzo-TV Marais's opera _Alcyone_. Charpentier has written several operas (unfortunately I don't know them). Early Handel belongs to the same epoche. There were several women composers: Barbara Strozzi, Isabella Leonarda and Elizabeth Jacquet de la Guerra, the latter is an author of at least one opera.


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## ewilkros (8 mo ago)

Growing up--like, 50+ years ago--I latched on to this LP of various Purcell "numbers", done by contralto Maureen Forrester and tenor Aleander Young, cond. Brian Priestman (rec. 1966):








Henry Purcell - Songs


View credits, reviews, tracks and shop for the Vinyl release of "Songs " on Discogs.




www.discogs.com





Purcell was kind of hard to deal with, first because much of his secular vocal music appeared as inserts in what were basically spoken plays, while none of the largely-vocal works like _King Arthur_ or _Indian Queen_ or _Fairy Queen_ were available as (musically) complete recordings, and secondly because it was hard to find vocal Purcell, outside of Dido, without having to put up with Alfred Deller and/or his "Consort". This was a find , though, as being solidly sung in the way that, say, Janet Baker's _Dido_ was.

The selections were quite varied, ranging from the quasi-Folk "Twas within a furlong of Edinborough town" to more recognizably operatic selections, all persuasively put over by Young and especially Forrester. There was a sequence of three connected numbers from _The Fairy Queen, _all sung by Forrester though probably meant for three different voices: "Night", Mystery", and "Secrecy". I had hoped to find all three to post here as examples of good 1960's Purcell, which is not necessarily the same as good current Purcell, but YouTube is not co-operating -- I can find only the third, "Secrecy". Can anyone track down the other two?

Instead I post the following, the group of three extracted from the Norrington complete recording, which I like, plus Forrester's "Secrecy", which I like a lot, and "Night" by Carolyn Sampson, which I find slow, extruded, and de-consonant-ed:

NIGHT
See, even Night herself is here
To favor your design:
And all her peaceful train are near
That men to sleep incline.
Let noise and care,
Doubt and despair,
Envy and spite
(The Fiend's delight)
Be ever banished hence.
Let soft repose
Her eyelids close
And murmuring streams
Bring pleasing dreams;
Let nothing stay to give offense.
See, even Night herself...

Night: See, even Night herself is here (Susan Bickley (ms), c Norrington, 1993)


Spoiler: Night - Susan Bickley/Norrington











Night: See, even night herself is here (Carolyn Sampson, Dantone, 2003)


Spoiler: Night - Carolyn Sampson/Dantone











MYSTERY
I am come to lock all fast,
Love without me cannot last.
Love, like counsels of the wise,
Must be hid from vulgar eyes.
'Tis holy, and we must conceal it,
They profane it who reveal it.

Mystery: I am come to lock all fast (The Fairy Queen) (Lorraine Hunt [Lieberson] (s), c Norrington), 1993)


Spoiler: Mystery - Lorraine Hunt [Lieberson]/Norrington











SECRECY
One charming night
Gives more delight
Than a hundred lucky days.
Night and I improve the taste,
Make the pleasure longer last,
A thousand, thousand several ways.

Secrecy: One charming night by Purcell - (Maureen Forrester (a), c Priestman, 1966)


Spoiler: Secrecy - Maureen Forrester/Priestman











Secresie: One charming Night - Mark Padmore (t), c Norrington, 1993)


Spoiler: Secrecy - Mark Padmore/Norrington











Note to SOF - If you don't know the Forrester track, I think you'll like it


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## Josquin13 (Nov 7, 2017)

If not to other Purcell operas, I'd recommend early Handel, which gets underrated: especially his operas, Teseo, & Amadigi Di Gaula, both masterpieces, in my view,

--Teseo, performed by Les Musiciens du Louvre & Marc Minkowski:





--Amadigi di gaula, performed by Al Ayre Espanol & Eduardo Lopez Banzo:





These brilliant early operas by Handel will help pave the way for you to his later operas, such Orlando, Alcina*, Ariodante, Serse, Faramondo, & Semele (*=my favorite Handel opera):














Ariodante: Act 1. Overture: Largo, Allegro


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## schigolch (Jun 26, 2011)

At roughly the same time that Purcell's Dido was premiered, we had also "Niobe, regina di Tebe" by Agostino Steffani.

This opera was forgotten during centuries until recently, when there have been some performances in several cities, and a couple of recordings.

It's a good one. It's not going to rock your operatic world, but a nice experience, if you are not expecting a Romantic opera.


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