# Can anyone recommend their favourite recording of Dido & Aeneas?



## heathen06

I want to buy a recording of Purcell's _Dido & Aeneas_, but am a little unsure of which version to buy. Can anyone recommend their favourite recording? I'd appreciate any recommnedations or guidance you have to offer. Thanks in advance.


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## Ciel_Rouge

I strongly recommend this one:

http://www.amazon.com/Henry-Purcell...=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=music&qid=1246061467&sr=8-2


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## LvB

Ask ten musicians a question about the 'best' recording of a major piece, and you'll get eleven answers....  . My recommendation is that of the English Chamber Orchestra, Anthony Lewis conducting, with Janet Baker as Dido. There are several strong reasons for starting with this one. It was Baker's first studio recording, and it is clear that she was putting everything she had into it (at the time, she had no certainty she'd be invited to make another). She knew the whole work intimately; she had sung several of the supporting roles as her career progressed, so she knew what she needed to do to make Dido stand out among the other parts, and she did it extremely well, with many subtle but telling details in her performance. She had also worked with Anthony Lewis before, so there was a level of comfort prior, developed prior to the recording, which aided the sessions. It was originally a Decca recording, back when they were among the very best in the industry, and great care was taken to ensure not only good balance, but properly differentiated sonic presence among the various parts during different moments in the score. 

Is this the 'best'? Who knows? But it is very good indeed, and I don't think you'd be making a mistake starting here.


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## ecg_fa

I agree with all those points about the Janet Baker/Anthony Lewis 'Dido & Aeneas.'
It's definitely an exciting, classic performance. For a different approach ('original instruments'-- really more a 'chamber orchestra/courtly' approach), I like the Catherine Bott/Emma Kirkby/Christopher Hogwood & Academy of Ancient Music mid '90's recording too. That was also on Decca/London if much later of course.

Ed


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## Toccata

With reference to the post immediately above, I would recommend the 
version with Catherine Bott (Dido), Emma Kirkby (Belinda), John Mark Ainsley (Aeneas):










I am pretty sure you wouldn't be disappointed with this. It's fairly new (2006), with an excellent cast and a period instrument orchestra with Christopher Hogwood conducting.

I recall that it came out as the most favoured version in a recent BBC Radio 3 "Building A Library" broadcast reviewing the available recordings.


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## periodinstrumentfan

William Christie & Les Arts Florissants !!! 

Also, you can't go wrong with the label Alpha & Libera.... the one posted by Ciel Rouge !!!  ...they're just hard to find in our place


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## Lisztfreak

My God! I've just listened to the one Ciel Rouge posted (samples), and now I'm abashed how different those versions get! Almost like separate works!

I have the Leppard/English Chamber Orchestra and Choir version from 1978, with Tatiana Troyanos as Dido and Richard Stilwell as Aeneas, and I like the lush sound of, perhaps not in the vein of 'authentic performances', but then again, I never thought 'authenticity' was of any importance.


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## Ciel_Rouge

Lisztfreak, I listened to samples of other recordings and I have to tell you that even the ouverture sounds different, mostly like they didn't quite "get it". This is an early opera and has to be sung and played in a baroque style. The baroque operatic singing is very different from later operas and the music contains a lot of motion and is clearly derived from dance-like concepts. If someone attempts to use romantic operatic singing or to play the baroque music in a romantic way, it just sounds odd and not very accomplished. If you consider purchasing a recording of the complete Dido and Aeneas, I strongly recommend the one Alpha did.


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## swazifiction

My favourite is the Parrot version, which was a BBC magazine cover CD. What I like about it is that Parrot and his cast (Taverner Choir and Players) treat it more like a masque and less like an opera. Maybe it's because I'm partial to masques (Locke's Cupid and Death for example) but I can picture Dido as more of a rugged masque, especially given the details of the original performance.


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## Kreisler jr

Christie's 2nd recording on Erato. It's frenchified, including accents, small scale and intimate but I love it. For something more dramatic Baker/Lewis on Decca.


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