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Purcell: Dido & Aeneas, Circe

Camille Allérat (Dido), Renato Dolcini (Aeneas), Julie Roset (Belinda/Second Witch), Anthea Pichanick (Sorceress), Ana Veieira Leite (Second Woman/First Witch), Les Argonautes, Jonas Descotte

Purcell: Dido & Aeneas, Circe
The singers are generally good. Camille Allérat brings a passionate voice to the role of Dido (though occasionally with unsteady vibrato), and Renato Dolcini as Aeneas inserts drama into the...

BBC Music Magazine, Christmas Issue 20224 out of 5 stars (Performance) / 3 out of 5 stars (Recording)

More reviews

Purcell: Dido & Aeneas, Circe

Camille Allérat (Dido), Renato Dolcini (Aeneas), Julie Roset (Belinda/Second Witch), Anthea Pichanick (Sorceress), Ana Veieira Leite (Second Woman/First Witch), Les Argonautes, Jonas Descotte

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The singers are generally good. Camille Allérat brings a passionate voice to the role of Dido (though occasionally with unsteady vibrato), and Renato Dolcini as Aeneas inserts drama into the...

BBC Music Magazine, Christmas Issue 20224 out of 5 stars (Performance) / 3 out of 5 stars (Recording)

More reviews

About

The circumstances of the composition of Purcell’s only opera, Dido and Æneas, are unclear. First performed in the 1680s, it received few performances in the composer’s lifetime, before disappearing until its revival at the very end of the nineteenth century. This miniature – poetic, dramatic, delightfully melodic, and containing some unforgettably beautiful vocal pieces (Dido’s “Lament”, the Witches’ songs) – has enjoyed great success ever since.

Jonas Descotte and his young ensemble Les Argonautes (named after the heroes who accompanied Jason in the quest for the Golden Fleece) have chosen this work for their recording debut.

Taking the intimate approach, one musician per part, the conductor sculpts his sound material in order to capture the very essence of the work’s musical and dramatic content, sublimated here by an attractive vocal cast, in which Camille Allérat, Renato Dolcini, Anthea Pichanick and Julie Roset are particularly outstanding.

Between historical practice and modernity, the conductor, in perfect symbiosis with his musicians, delivers here a highly polished and intense interpretation, swept by the winds of freedom.

Contents and tracklist

Excerpt,Purcell: Dido and Aeneas
Work length1:50
  • Les Argonautes, Jonas Descotte
Overture
Track length1:50
Purcell: Dido and Aeneas, Z.626, Act I Scene 1, The Palace
Work length15:11
Shake the Cloud from Off Your Brow (Belinda)
Track length0:35
Banish Sorrow, Banish Care (Chorus)
Track length0:34
Ah! Belinda, I Am Press'd with Torment (Dido)
Track length4:14
Grief Increases by Concealing (Belinda, Dido)
Track length0:34
When Monarchs Unite, How Happy Their State (Chorus)
Track length0:16
Whence Could so Much Virtue Spring? (Dido, Belinda)
Track length1:54
Fear no Danger to Ensue (Belinda, Second Woman, Chorus)
Track length1:51
See, Your Royal Guest Appears (Belinda, Æneas, Dido)
Track length0:53
Cupid Only Throws the Dart (Chorus)
Track length0:43
If Not for Mine, for Empire's Sake (Æneas, Belinda)
Track length1:12
To the Hills and the Vales (Chorus)
Track length1:11
The Triumphing Dance
Track length1:14
Purcell: Dido and Aeneas, Z.626, Act II Scene 1, The Cave
Work length9:02
Prelude for the Witches. Wayward Sisters, You That Fright (Sorceress). Harm's Our Delight (Chorus)
Track length2:20
The Queen of Carthage, Whom We Hate (Sorceress). Ho, Ho, Ho (Chorus)
Track length0:39
Ruin'd Ere the Set of Sun? (Two Witches, Sorceress). Ho, Ho, Ho (Chorus)
Track length1:13
But Ere We This Perform (Two Witches)
Track length1:13
In Our Deep Vaulted Cell (Chorus)
Track length1:36
Echo Dance of the Furies
Track length1:05
Ritornelle
Track length0:56
Purcell: Dido and Aeneas, Z.626, Act II Scene 2, The Grove
Work length9:36
Thanks to These Lonesome Vales (Belinda, Chorus)
Track length3:23
Oft She Visits This Lone Mountain (Second Woman)
Track length2:05
Behold, Upon My Bending Spear (Æneas, Dido)
Track length0:33
Haste, Haste to Town (Belinda, Chorus)
Track length0:44
Stay, Prince, and Hear Great Jove's Command (Spirit, Æneas)
Track length2:51
Purcell: Dido and Aeneas, Z.626, Act III Scene 1, The Ships
Work length7:02
Come Away Fellow Sailors (First Sailor, Chorus)
Track length1:42
The Sailors' Dance
Track length0:44
See the Flags and Streamers Curling (Sorceress, Two Witches)
Track length1:12
Our Next Motion (Sorceress)
Track length0:36
Destruction's Our Delight (Chorus)
Track length0:33
The Witches' Dance
Track length2:15
Purcell: Dido and Aeneas, Z.626, Act III Scene 2
Work length15:27
Your Counsel All Is Urg'd in Vain (Dido, Belinda, Æneas)
Track length3:22
But Death, alas! I cannot shun (Dido)
Track length0:33
Great Minds Against Themselves Conspire (Chorus)
Track length1:01
Thy Hand Belinda; Darkness Shades Me (Dido)
Track length1:02
When I Am Laid in Earth (Dido)
Track length3:59
With Drooping Wings (Chorus)
Track length5:30
Purcell: Circe: incidental music, Z575
Work length14:35
We Must Assemble by a Sacrifice (Second Priest, Chorus)
Track length1:49
Their Necessary Aid You Use (First, Second and Third Priests)
Track length0:46
The Air, With Music Gently Wound (Second Priest, Third Priest)
Track length1:25
The Air, With Music Gently Wound (Chorus)
Track length1:25
Come Every Demon (First Priest)
Track length1:19
Circe, the Daughter of the Sun Obey (Chorus)
Track length0:42
You Who Hatch Factions (First Priest)
Track length0:40
Circe the daughter of the Sun obey (Chorus) II
Track length0:46
Magicians' Dance (Part 1)
Track length0:26
Pluto, Arise! (Second Priest)
Track length1:15
Magicians' Dance (Part 2)
Track length0:53
Lovers, Who to Their First Embraces Go (First and Second Women, Chorus)
Track length1:31
Great Minister of Fate (Chorus). At Your Dread Word (Second Woman)
Track length0:58
Great Minister of Fate (Chorus)
Track length0:40

Spotlight on this release

Awards and reviews

Christmas Issue 2022

The singers are generally good. Camille Allérat brings a passionate voice to the role of Dido (though occasionally with unsteady vibrato), and Renato Dolcini as Aeneas inserts drama into the somewhat pallidly written role.
4 out of 5 stars (Performance) / 3 out of 5 stars (Recording)
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