William Christie & Les Arts Florissants - Purcell: Dido & Aeneas (1995)

Purcell's Dido and Aeneas is one of the very few 17th-century works to have entered the operatic "canon" and developed a modern performance tradition before the late 20th century's early-music revival. For listeners who had grown fond of this opera in its "traditional" form, the period-instrument recordings of recent years have provided some odd surprises: an all-female cast (excepting Aeneas); a baritone Sorceress; singing in a style closer to a Restoration playhouse than Covent Garden. William Christie and Les Arts Florissants, however, provide a stylish and lively period-instrument Dido with no casting surprises--to wit, the male roles are sung by men and the female roles by women, all of whom sound like classically trained singers. The only surprise, in fact, is how well the largely Francophone cast sings in English. (Only Jean-Paul Fouchecourt as the Sailor has a heavy accent.) Sophie Marin-Degor is a nimble Belinda, Nathan Berg a virile Aeneas. While the Enchantresses are played for low comedy, Claire Brua portrays the Sorceress with snake-like slipperiness and venom; fast-rising star Veronique Gens gives us a Queen Dido combining regal dignity with youthful sweetness and emotion. -- Matthew Westphal