Emotional Depth and Evocative Power: The Perfect English Opera

La Nuova Musica and its artistic director David Bates present Henry Purcell’s most widely admired work Dido and Aeneas. With Nathum Tate’s libretto based on Virgil’s Aeneid Book IV, Dido and Aeneas is a miniature opera, as well as the only all-sung opera Purcell ever composed.

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Constantly juxtaposing different moods, colors, orchestrations, this semi-opera enjoys the popularity for its “tunefulness, evocative power, and […] its conciseness”. The guiding star that David Bates wants to follow for this recording is making sure that Purcell’s Italian, French, and English musical influences are all emphasized – by adding a typically Italian harp to the continuo or by doubling the strings with winds in the French tradition. Dido and Aeneas includes one of the most touching operatic laments “When I am laid in earth”.

A cast of first-class singers with strong musical personalities offer an eclectic interpretation together with a chorus that creates a visceral and intrinsically dramatic sound world. Dido and Aeneas is David Bates and La Nuova Musica’s fourth release, after the acclaimed Gluck Orfeo and Euridice (2019) and Handel’s Unsung Heroes (2021), as well as Beauteous Softness (2023) where they joined forces with Tim Mead.

Counter-tenor Tim Mead previously released Pentatone’s Handel Messiah (2020) with Akademie für Alte Musik Berlin. Star tenor Nicky Spence, Fleur Barron, Matthew Brook, Giulia Semenzato all make their Pentatone debut.

Vocalists
Dido – Fleur Barron, Mezzo-Soprano
Aeneas – Matthew Brook, Bass-Baritone
Belinda – Giulia Semenzato, Soprano
Sorceress – Avery Amereau, Alto
Second Lady – Hilary Cronin, Soprano
Sailor – Nicky Spence, Tenor
Spirit – Tim Mead, Countertenor
First Witch – Helen Charlston, Mezzo-Soprano
Second Witch – Martha McLorinan, Mezzo-Soprano

La Nuova Musica
David Bates – Artistic Director & Organ
Tim Mead – Counter-Tenor
Nicky Spence – Tenor
Fleur Barron – Mezzo-Soprano
Matthew Brook – Bass-Baritone
Giulia Semenzato – Soprano
Avery Amereau – Alto
Hilary Cronin – Soprano
Helen Charlston – Mezzo-Soprano
Martha McLorinan – Mezzo-Soprano

Read a detailed review of this album HERE.

The real star is Avery Amereau’s Sorceress – intensely dramatic and frightening, slightly parodic but never over-the-top.