Reissued to mark Colin Davis’s 80th birthday, this sublime Philips recording of ‘Dido and Aeneas’ makes a welcome return to the catalogue. The honeyed sound of its protagonists – Josephine Veasey (whom Colin Davis also chose as the Dido for his recording of Berlioz’s ‘Les Troyens’) and John Shirley-Quirk – is offset by a chaste-sounding Helen Donath and a superbly characterised Sorceress from Bainbridge.
HENRY PURCELL
Dido and Aeneas
Jospehine Veasey
John Shirley-Quirk
Helen Donath
Elizabeth Bainbridge
Delia Wallis
Gillian Knight
SirThomas Allen
John Alldis Choir
Academy of St. Martin in the Fields
Kenneth Heath, cello
Robin McGee, double-bass
John Constable, harpsichord, organ continuo
Neville Marriner, leader
Colin Davis
‘…this is a distinguished recording, surely one of the greatest renditions of Dido and Aeneas available’ Fanfare