Cavalli: La Didone (complete opera recorded in 2011)

"Anna Bonitatibus as Dido is first-class; her powerful mezzo voice is as resplendent as her wonderful name and Krešimir špicer's Æneas is hardly far behind...Christie's direction can almost be taken to guarantee a fine performance and that's the case here...If you wish to have only one Cavalli recording in your collection, this would vie strongly for that honour" MusicWeb International, October 2012

"This live French performance is a real beauty. Virtually anything William Christie touches these days is, and the cast he has assembled is second to none with Anna Bonitatibus simply stunning in the title role. Though she is older than the opera makes her character out to be-as are all the singers generally-her portrayal finds the right balance between Queen and teen" (AudAud.com)

One of the first operas deserving of the name, Didone is our first surviving musical version of the famous episode in Virgil's Aeneid where the Trojan hero loves and then cruelly leaves the noble Dido. Cavalli learnt at the feet of Monteverdi, and his dramatic transformation of the story is all the more expressive for its intimacy, worthy of the examples set by his master. At the centre of this bold and simple staging - the first opera production by comic actor Clément Hervieu-Léger - is the Queen of Carthage herself, sung with uncompromising intensity by Anna Bonitatibus. William Christie and his singers and players show themselves entirely attuned to the world of Cavalli, where meaning and music fuse.

Running time: 176 minutes

Subtitles: EN/FR/DE