Tim Mead - Dido & Aeneas - COMPACT DISCS [CD]

La Nuova Musica and it's 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. Constantly juxtaposing different moods; colours; orchestrations; this semi-opera enjoys the popularity for it's Inchtunefulness; evocative power; and [...] it's concisenessInch. 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 just as in the French tradition. Dido and Aeneas includes one of the most touching operatic laments InchWhen I am laid in earthInch. 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 soundworld. Dido and Aeneas is David Bates and La Nuova Musica's fourth ; 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. Album Tracks 1. Overture 2. Act One 3. Shake the Cloud - Banish Sarrow 4. Ah! Belinda 5. Grief Increases By Concealing - When Monarchs Unite - When Could So Much Virtue Spring 6. Fear No Danger - See, Your Royal Guest Appears 7. Cupid Only Throws the Dart - If Not for Mine for Empire's Sake - Persue Thy Conquest Love 8. To the Hills and the Vales - the Triumphing Dance 9. Act Two 10. Prelude for the Witches 1