Choir(s): Mermaid Singers
Label: Naxos Historical
Series: Great Opera Recordings
Genre: Opera; Vocal
Period: Baroque
Catalogue No: 8.111264
Barcode: 0747313326426
Distribution Note(s):
Not available in the United States due to possible copyright restrictions
Release Date: 08/2007

PURCELL: Dido and Aeneas (Flagstad, Schwarzkopf, Hemsley) (1952)

When this recording of Dido and Aeneas first appeared in January 1953 The Gramophone commented: “At last we have a really satisfactory recording of Dido”.The reviewer found “Madame Flagstad in splendid voice and her tone is most perfectly controlled”. Elisabeth Schwarzkopf was deemed “a vivacious Belinda”, Arda Mandikian’s Sorceress “sufficiently spiteful” and Thomas Hemsley “a dignified and slightly diffident Aeneas, but I imagine Dido gave him a strong inferiority complex”. Geraint Jones, who enjoyed a highly successful career as an organist, harpsichordist, conductor and recording producer, was praised for his “musicianly playing and a lack of that lumpy rhythm that is fatal in Purcell’s music”.

Tracklist

Purcell, Henry
Tate, Nahum - Lyricist
Jones, Geraint (Conductor)
Mermaid Orchestra (Orchestra)
Schwarzkopf, Elisabeth (soprano)
Flagstad, Kirsten (soprano)
Hemsley, Thomas (baritone)
Mandikian, Arda (mezzo-soprano)
Rex, Sheila (soprano)
Pollak, Anna (mezzo-soprano)
Lloyd, David (tenor)
1Overture03:09
Jones, Geraint (Conductor)
Mermaid Orchestra (Orchestra)
2Act I: Shake the cloud from off your brow (Belinda, Chorus)01:10
Jones, Geraint (Conductor)
Mermaid Orchestra (Orchestra)
Schwarzkopf, Elisabeth (soprano)
3Act I: Ah! Belinda, I am press'd with torment (Dido)03:26
Jones, Geraint (Conductor)
Flagstad, Kirsten (soprano)
Mermaid Orchestra (Orchestra)
4Act I: Grief increases by concealing (Belinda, Dido, Chorus)00:57
Flagstad, Kirsten (soprano)
Schwarzkopf, Elisabeth (soprano)
Jones, Geraint (Conductor)
Mermaid Orchestra (Orchestra)
5Act I: Whence could so much virtue spring? (Dido, Belinda)02:12
Schwarzkopf, Elisabeth (soprano)
Jones, Geraint (Conductor)
Mermaid Orchestra (Orchestra)
Flagstad, Kirsten (soprano)
6Act I: Fear no danger to ensue (Belinda, 2nd Woman and Chorus)01:40
Mermaid Orchestra (Orchestra)
Schwarzkopf, Elisabeth (soprano)
Jones, Geraint (Conductor)
7Act I: See, your Royal guest appears (Belinda, Aeneas, Dido)01:17
Mermaid Orchestra (Orchestra)
Flagstad, Kirsten (soprano)
Schwarzkopf, Elisabeth (soprano)
Hemsley, Thomas (baritone)
Jones, Geraint (Conductor)
8Act I: Cupid only throws the dart (Chorus)00:35
Jones, Geraint (Conductor)
Mermaid Orchestra (Orchestra)
9Act I: If not for mine, for Empire's sake (Aeneas)00:24
Hemsley, Thomas (baritone)
Jones, Geraint (Conductor)
Mermaid Orchestra (Orchestra)
10Act I: Pursue thy conquest, Love (Belinda)00:49
Schwarzkopf, Elisabeth (soprano)
Jones, Geraint (Conductor)
Mermaid Orchestra (Orchestra)
11Act I: To the hills and the vales (Chorus)01:15
Jones, Geraint (Conductor)
Mermaid Orchestra (Orchestra)
12Act I: The Triumphing Dance01:18
Mermaid Orchestra (Orchestra)
Jones, Geraint (Conductor)
13Act II Scene 1: Prelude for the Witches01:28
Jones, Geraint (Conductor)
Mermaid Orchestra (Orchestra)
14Act II Scene 1: Wayward sisters (Sorceress, 1st Witch)01:35
Mandikian, Arda (mezzo-soprano)
Rex, Sheila (soprano)
Mermaid Orchestra (Orchestra)
Jones, Geraint (Conductor)
15Act II Scene 1: Harm's our delight (Chorus)00:19
Mermaid Orchestra (Orchestra)
Jones, Geraint (Conductor)
16Act II Scene 1: The Queen of Carthage, whom we hate (Sorceress, Chorus)00:48
Mermaid Orchestra (Orchestra)
Mandikian, Arda (mezzo-soprano)
Jones, Geraint (Conductor)
17Act II Scene 1: Ruin'd ere the set of sun? (1st and 2nd Witches, Sorceress, Chorus)01:30
Mandikian, Arda (mezzo-soprano)
Pollak, Anna (mezzo-soprano)
Rex, Sheila (soprano)
Jones, Geraint (Conductor)
Mermaid Orchestra (Orchestra)
18Act II Scene 1: But, ere we this perform (1st and 2nd Witches)01:15
Pollak, Anna (mezzo-soprano)
Jones, Geraint (Conductor)
Mermaid Orchestra (Orchestra)
Rex, Sheila (soprano)
19Act II Scene 1: In our deep vaulted cell (Chorus)01:16
Jones, Geraint (Conductor)
Mermaid Orchestra (Orchestra)
20Act II Scene 1: Echo Dance of Furies01:01
Jones, Geraint (Conductor)
Mermaid Orchestra (Orchestra)
21Act II Scene 2: Ritornelle00:29
Jones, Geraint (Conductor)
Mermaid Orchestra (Orchestra)
22Act II Scene 2: Thanks to these lonesome vales (Belinda, Chorus)01:44
Schwarzkopf, Elisabeth (soprano)
Jones, Geraint (Conductor)
Mermaid Orchestra (Orchestra)
23Act II Scene 2: Oft she visits this lone mountain (2nd Woman)02:06
Schwarzkopf, Elisabeth (soprano)
Mermaid Orchestra (Orchestra)
Jones, Geraint (Conductor)
24Act II Scene 2: Behold, upon my bended spear (Aeneas, Dido)00:36
Hemsley, Thomas (baritone)
Jones, Geraint (Conductor)
Flagstad, Kirsten (soprano)
Mermaid Orchestra (Orchestra)
25Act II Scene 2: Haste to town (Belinda, Chorus)00:47
Schwarzkopf, Elisabeth (soprano)
Jones, Geraint (Conductor)
Mermaid Orchestra (Orchestra)
26Act II Scene 2: Stay, Prince! and hear great Jove's command (Spirit, Aeneas)02:43
Schwarzkopf, Elisabeth (soprano)
Hemsley, Thomas (baritone)
Jones, Geraint (Conductor)
Mermaid Orchestra (Orchestra)
27Act II Scene 2: Then since our Charm's have sped (Chorus)01:07
Jones, Geraint (Conductor)
Mermaid Orchestra (Orchestra)
28Act III Scene 1: Prelude - Come away, fellow sailors (Sailor, Chorus)01:48
Lloyd, David (tenor)
Jones, Geraint (Conductor)
Mermaid Orchestra (Orchestra)
29Act III Scene 1: The Sailor's Dance00:43
Jones, Geraint (Conductor)
Mermaid Orchestra (Orchestra)
30Act III Scene 1: See, the flags and streamers curling (Sorceress, 1st and 2nd Witches)00:56
Mandikian, Arda (mezzo-soprano)
Rex, Sheila (soprano)
Jones, Geraint (Conductor)
Mermaid Orchestra (Orchestra)
Pollak, Anna (mezzo-soprano)
31Act III Scene 1: Our next motion (Sorceress)00:41
Mandikian, Arda (mezzo-soprano)
Jones, Geraint (Conductor)
Mermaid Orchestra (Orchestra)
32Act III Scene 1: Destruction's our delight (Chorus)00:35
Jones, Geraint (Conductor)
Mermaid Orchestra (Orchestra)
33Act III Scene 1: The Witches' Dance01:31
Mermaid Orchestra (Orchestra)
Jones, Geraint (Conductor)
34Act III Scene 2: Your counsel all is urg'd in vain (Dido, Belinda, Aeneas)04:42
Flagstad, Kirsten (soprano)
Schwarzkopf, Elisabeth (soprano)
Hemsley, Thomas (baritone)
Jones, Geraint (Conductor)
Mermaid Orchestra (Orchestra)
35Act III Scene 2: Great minds against themselves conspire (Chorus)01:13
Jones, Geraint (Conductor)
Mermaid Orchestra (Orchestra)
36Act III Scene 2: Thy hand, Belinda; darkness shades me (Dido)01:07
Flagstad, Kirsten (soprano)
Jones, Geraint (Conductor)
Mermaid Orchestra (Orchestra)
37Act III Scene 2: When I am laid in earth (Dido)03:59
Flagstad, Kirsten (soprano)
Jones, Geraint (Conductor)
38Act III Scene 2: With drooping wings ye cupids come (Chorus)04:30
Jones, Geraint (Conductor)
Mermaid Orchestra (Orchestra)
Bach, Johann Sebastian
Bible - New Testament - Lyricist
Henrici, Christian Friedrich - Lyricist
Philharmonia Orchestra (Orchestra)
Flagstad, Kirsten (soprano)
Susskind, Walter (Conductor)
39St. Matthew Passion, BWV 244, Part II: Aria: Erbarme dich, mein Gott08:47
Philharmonia Orchestra (Orchestra)
Flagstad, Kirsten (soprano)
Susskind, Walter (Conductor)
Handel, George Frideric
Minato, Nicolò - Lyricist
Philharmonia Orchestra (Orchestra)
Flagstad, Kirsten (soprano)
Braithwaite, Warwick (Conductor)
40Serse (Xerxes), HWV 40, Act I: Frondi tenere e belle… Ombra mai fu, "Largo"04:34
Philharmonia Orchestra (Orchestra)
Flagstad, Kirsten (soprano)
Braithwaite, Warwick (Conductor)
Purcell, Henry
Tate, Nahum - Lyricist
Flagstad, Kirsten (soprano)
Braithwaite, Warwick (Conductor)
Philharmonia Orchestra (Orchestra)
41Dido and Aeneas, Z. 626, Act III: Thy hand, Belinda … When I am laid in earth05:02
Flagstad, Kirsten (soprano)
Braithwaite, Warwick (Conductor)
Philharmonia Orchestra (Orchestra)

Total Playing Time: 01:17:04