DiDonato is magnificent as Dido, fully understanding how badly her story will end in her first aria as Purcell slides from minor to minor, then sumptuously sorrowful in 'When I am laid in Earth', with silky tone and seamless legato...the orchestra of Il Pomo Oro, directed by Maxim Emelyanychev, is in fine form, with admirable open intonation from the strings and their accustomed high energy attack.

This new recording has a star in Joyce DiDonato and, for all that the performance as a whole is of high standard, she dominates the proceedings wherever she appears...Il Pomo d’Oro and its choir are a top-flight Baroque ensemble and Emelyanychev is alive to every quick-changing mood in Purcell’s brilliant, humorous, tragic masterpiece.

DiDonato mines the character development of Dido, exploring all her emotions with relish..Emelyanychev draws a diverse range of instrumental colours from Purcell's score.

Emelyanychev paces things brilliantly: his tempi are generally on the swift side, but he has an unerring instinct for when to press pause between numbers and when to carry the energy forward...In a crowded field, then, this Dido demands attention - not just for DiDonato’s complex and compelling heroine, but for the luxury casting of the smaller roles and the colour and energy of the performance as a whole.

any oddities shrivel beside DiDonato’s expressive intelligence, the agony of Dido’s final lament, the warmth of the soprano Fatma Said (Dido’s handmaid Belinda) and the panache of the ensemble Il Pomo d’Oro, conducted by Maxim Emelyanychev...Nothing here can dent Purcell’s genius, Dido’s tragedy or DiDonato’s great art.