Purcell: Dido & Aeneas (complete opera)
$35.00
Special Order3 - 6 weeks add to cart
HENRY PURCELL
Purcell: Dido & Aeneas (complete opera)
Joyce DiDonato (mezzo) Michael Spyres (baritenor) Fatma Said (soprano) / Il Pomo d'Oro Choir, Il Pomo d'Oro, Maxim Emelyanychev
[ Erato Warner Classics / CD ]
Release Date: Friday 22 August 2025
This item is only available to us via Special Order. We should be able to get it to you in 3 - 6 weeks from when you order it.
The acclaimed mezzo-soprano Joyce DiDonato stars as Dido in this recording of Purcell's Dido and Aeneas, captured at Essen Philharmonie as part of a celebrated European tour in 2024. The album includes Joyce's rendition of Dido's famous lament "When I am laid in earth" - a staple of her repertoire, though she only performed the opera in its entirety for the first time last year. With Il Pomo d'Oro and conductor Maxim Emelyanychev, the cast also features Michael Spyres as Aeneas, Fatma Said as Dido's companion Belinda, and Hugh Cutting as the Spirit, alongside Beth Taylor, Carlotta Colombo, Laurence Kilsby, Alena Dantcheva and Anna Piroli.
"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." BBC Music Five Stars
"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." Financial Times Five Stars
"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." Gramophone Award Nomination 2026 - Opera
