Leonardo García Alarcón returns to Ambronay Éditions with this recording of Dido and Æneas, accompanied by a cast of gifted young singers bursting with vitality. His interpretation focuses on the links between England and Spain, as Carthage lurks between Purcell’s innovations and Monteverdi’s revolution. The young, “breathtakingly talented” (Télérama) Argentinian conductor brings out “the sweetness of the ninths, the anger of the fourths, the insightful audacity of a second” (Leonardo Garcia Alarcón). A world of colours blossoms in this colourful, lively and contemporary production (Ambronay Editions).
The first English opera
Dido and Æneas is an exceptional work in many respects. It was one of the only English operas composed during the Baroque period. Since it was created for an all-girls’ college, this chamber opera is written for an all-female cast and the score is adapted for amateur musicians. Vocal virtuosity is limited, the instrumental numbers are reduced to strings, and there is only moderate contrapuntal development in the choruses.
“[F]rom many points it is an ideal realisation of Purcell’s tight-knit masterpiece, with young voices, a small instrumental ensemble, lively tempi and transparent textures. Leonardo García Alarcón sweeps the music along so that the acts flow seamlessly.” Nicholas Kenyon, 3 October 2010, The Guardian
Dido and Æneas was first performed in 1689 at the Boarding School for Girls in Chelsea, a district of London. Purcell himself played the harpsichord and the boarding school pupils performed the dances that the composer added to the opera.
This is the only true Baroque opera composed by Purcell. All the rest of his dramas set to music (The Fairy Queen, King Arthur, etc.) are considered to be semi-operas or masques. Dido and Aeneas is similar in form to John Blow’s Venus and Adonis, which was written for Charles II of England. Musicologists believe that Dido and Aeneas was also composed for the king, even if he never got to see it because of his early death in 1685.
