Dido & Aeneas / Dawson, Joshua, Finlay, Kiehr, Bickley, Visse, Blaze; Jacobs [Import]

Henry Purcell (Artist), Lynne Dawson (Artist), Rosemary Joshua (Artist), René Jacobs (Artist), Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment (Artist), Maria Cristina Kiehr (Artist), Susan Bickley (Artist), Dominique Visse (Artist), Robin Blaze (Artist), Gerald Finley (Artist) | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (February 13, 2001)
• SPARS Code: DDD
• Number of Discs: 1
• Format: Import
• Label: Harmonia Mundi Fr.
• ASIN: B000056SSV
• Average Customer Review: 3.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #177,476 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Track Listings

1. Ov - OAE/Rene Jacobs

2. Act I: Shake The Cloud - Rosemary Joshua

3. Act I: Ah! Belinda, I Am Prest - Lynne Dawson

4. Act I: Grief Increase By Concealing - Rosemary Joshua

5. Act I: When Monarchs Unite - Clare College Chapel Chor/Timothy Brown

6. Act I: Whence Could So Much Virtue Spring? - Lynne Dawson

7. Act I: Fear No Danger To Ensue - Rosemary Joshua/Maria Cristina Kiehr

8. Act I: See, Your Royal Guest Appears - Rosemary Joshua

9. Act I: Cupid Only Throws The Dart - Clare College Chapel Chor/Timothy Brown

10. Act I: If Not For Mine - Gerald Finley

11. Act I: Pursue Thy Conquest - Rosemary Joshua

12. Act I: To The Hills And The Vales - Clare College Chapel Chor/Timothy Brown

13. Act I: The Triumphing Dance - OAE/Rene Jacobs

14. Act II: Prld For The Witches - OAE/Rene Jacobs

15. Act II: Harm's Our Delight - Clare College Chapel Chor/Timothy Brown

16. Act II: The Queen Of Carthage - Susan Bickley

17. Act II: Ho Ho Ho, Ho Ho Ho! - Clare College Chapel Chor/Timothy Brown

18. Act II: But Ere We This Perform - Dominque Visse/Stephen Wallace

19. Act II: In Our Deep Vaulted Cell - Clare College Chapel Chor/Timothy Brown

20. Act II: Echo Dance Of Furies - OAE/Rene Jacobs

See all 39 tracks on this disc

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Impressive but Not Indispensable, September 1, 2004

By 

Terry Serres (Minneapolis, MN United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Dido & Aeneas / Dawson, Joshua, Finlay, Kiehr, Bickley, Visse, Blaze; Jacobs (Audio CD)

There is a lot to recommend this performance, and I certainly prefer it to the fascinating but overrated Emmanuelle Haim account on Virgin. In my affections it cedes first prize to Hogwood on L'oiseau lyre with Bott.

Jacobs lies between Hogwood and Haim both in terms of issue date and instrumental approach -- neither as polite as Hogwood nor as aggressive as Haim. What distinguishes him is some dark sounds from the lower strings, right from the beginning and persisting throughout. He does make strong use of winds and strummed instruments, and the organ at a couple of telling intervals (the Spirit's appearance, as usual, but also Dido's lines just before her final recititive, "But Death, alas! I cannot shun"). Jacobs interpolates music adapted from the Fairy Queen for a chorus and dance to round out the incomplete Act II, but it is not entirely convincing. (Haim ends with Aeneas's soliloquy and Hogwood repeats the ritornelli from the beginning of the scene.)

Lynne Dawson sounds a mite long in the tooth for Dido, but her final confrontation and lament are vibrant with anguish. It is a strong characterization and performance.

Gerald Finley is superb as Aeneas. What a relief to hear a baritone -- and a strong, limber one at that -- in this role, which simply lies too low to bring forth interesting sounds from the tenors to whom it is usually entrusted. He isn't brimming with period inflection but is infinitely more involved than Bostridge for Haim, who busies himself with a thousand whistle-stops on individual words without making a coherent emotional impression.

Susan Bickley as the sorceress is even more attractive in tone than Felicity Palmer for Haim -- her voice is well nigh as beautiful as Dawson's in fact, lending the impression that she is more a romantic rival than a bête noire. She does put some bite into her lines but mostly leaves the vocal dirty work to her witches, portrayed by two countertenors, the characterful Dominique Visse and the eery Stephen Wallace, who actually contrast and harmonize beautifully amidst their antics. Also, Jacobs adapts two choruses of the witches to make one anticipate and one echo the famous echo chorus ... an interesting but superfluous conceit. Elsewhere, Jacobs takes other willful innovations in the dances and choruses that are interesting but don't consistently work. (One place where it does is at Belinda's "Thanks to these lonesome vales," which the chorus repeats after each couple rather than at the end.) The chorus is a heartfelt participant in the drama, and its finale, "With drooping wings" -- delicately textured with one, maybe two, voices per part, at least on the entrances -- is heartbreaking. But then Jacobs overdoes it by repeating the chorus rather than ending on the instrumental repeat that sometimes follows.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Great, but with a few exceptions, December 29, 2007

By 

Bruno L. Garzon "adriannepieczonkafan" (Chicago,IL) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Dido & Aeneas / Dawson, Joshua, Finlay, Kiehr, Bickley, Visse, Blaze; Jacobs (Audio CD)

Rene Jacob's recording of Purcell's Dido and Aeneas is sure to go down in the list of great recordings, but I do have a few issues to pick with it. Rene Jacobs direction is a tad weird. He takes the solos rather fast and the choruses very slow. Otherwise he and the orchestra of the age of the enlightenment fit together great. Lynne Dawson's Dido is one of the best I have ever heard. Much better than Emma Kirkby or Kirsten Flagsted (even though I recognize the historical significance of Kirsten.) Rosemary Joshua's Belina is a tad generic. Gerald Finley's Aeneas is THE best no rival. Susan Bickley's witch is a tad boring and doesn't really sound like she wants venegance. The rest of the cast is great (especially the 2 witches- I'm a countertenor so I love to see them incorporated into D AND A.) Overall a great effort.

10 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A superb rendering of the lovely work - best Dido I've heard, August 24, 2001

By 

Concert Music (Alpharetta, GA USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Dido & Aeneas / Dawson, Joshua, Finlay, Kiehr, Bickley, Visse, Blaze; Jacobs (Audio CD)

You must purchase this disc, even if you already own this opera (and especially if you own the Pinnock version). Lynne Dawson, who has sung Belinda with Pinnock, here takes on the role of Dido - and gives a perfect, larger-than-life performance. There is nothing I can say that will suffice to express the superlatives her singing deserves. Rene Jacobs does a masterful job of pace - my biggest complaint with Pinnock. Dido's Lament is slow and painful - the world stops spinning for 4 minutes every time I listen in! The Sorceress, sung by Susan Bickley, is outstanding, and the 2 other witches, sung by countertenors and performed as ugly as possible, are very well done indeed. The one performance I liked better on Pinnock's disc was the Aeneas of Stephen Varcoe - but Gerald Finley doesn't turn this into less than a stellar disc. The recording quality lives up to the normal Harmonia Mundi standards. You will not regret this purchase.