Classical Works Spotlight #328--Henry Purcell

[erik]

A great master of the Baroque period, the Englishman Henry Purcell, is in the Classical Works Spotlight this week with a (relatively) short but significant contribution to the world of opera.

Purcell: DIDO AND AENEAS

In terms of what we know as the Baroque period of music (the 17th and early-to-mid 18th century), it is usually three composers who come to mind: Bach; Handel; and Vivaldi. But one other important figure in the Baroque era was the English composer Henry Purcell, who lived a tragically short life from 1658 to 1695. Not only did he write much in the way of instrumental works, including music for the British crown, plus the imposing “Music For Queen Mary’s Funeral”, he also helped develop the English opera, preceding those of Handel by a couple of decades. One of his most important operas was “Dido And Aeneas”, whose libretto, conceived by Nahum Tate, was based on the legend of Dido, Queen of Carthage, and her love for the Trojan hero Aeneas, and her despair when he abandons her. It was the composer’s first opera, the only one of his dramatic works that is completely sung (no spoken parts). Its first known performance was in July 1688 it Josias Priest’s girls school in Chelsea, London. Although it was performed frequently in England over the next decade and a half, by which time the composer had already passed away, it fell out of the repertoire in 1705 (save for random concert performances) until 1895, when the students of London’s Royal College of Music gave it its first modern-era performance. Since then, it has been extensively performed and recorded, by modern and period-instrument ensembles alike, and, because it is not an especially long work (usually no more than an hour), has found itself in the opera repertoire again in the 21st century.



Dido: TATIANA TROYANOS
Aeneas: RICHARD STILWELL
Belinda: FELICITY PALMER
Second Woman: ELIZABETH GALE
Zauberlin, The Sorceress: PATRICIA KERN
First Witch/Spirit: ALFREDA HODGSON
Second Witch: LINN MAXWELL
Seaman: PHILIP LANGRIDGE

English Chamber Orchestra Choir (Geoffrey Shaw, chorus master)

English Chamber Orchestra/RAYMOND LEPPARD (Erato)

[egoodstein]

This is a strong recording of the opera. Leppard was of course a significant champion of 'early' music (meaning mainly 17th/18th century music before and contemporary with Bach/Handel), and really key to ushering in more significant focus on that by many others since. Troyanos also I think definitely in her element with this role, if Stilwell has never been exactly my favorite baritone (but pretty good here). Given the time of this recording (mid-'70's I believe?), Leppard brought a lot of erudition and interesting consideration to the score, balancing then contemporary orchestral ideas and attention to period-instrument ideas/arranging too. If often recorded later with other emphases and 'sound,' Leppard's recordings like this and his Monteverdi ones & others remain dramatic/intriguing.

There're some scintillating arias and music here (esp. of course the well-known/oft-performed 'Dido's Lament'), if also some links to Purcell's chamber songs/arias too as well as the other orchestral music, and keeping in mind it was originally performed at a girls's school with children as performers, some simpler (and also comic) aspects which are interesting.  Another point may be  the thematic focus on the linking of two sovereigns and 'royal duty' in the context of contemporary English political situation, the 'Glorious Revoution' overthrow of James II, and William and Mary's ascension to the English throne, etc. Though of course just the classical theme/story is of interest enough.

I like many other recordings of this too, including:  the early '60's Janet Baker/Andrew Davis one, later Emma Kirkby/Catherine Bott/Christopher Hogwood; René Jacobs/Lynne Dawson-Gerald Finley one; and others I'm not recalling. I think Purcell is often a fine composer, sometimes balancing erudition and almost 'folk' sounds too. I like a lot Emma Kirkby's recordings of his songs in this regard with lute or guitar accompaniment. Anyway, good to see more attention given to some of these 'other' Baroque composers, and Leppard definitely deserves applause for being one of the ones starting that back in the late '60's/'70's.

[erik]

Yes, this particular recording dates from 1977, and it shows how good a grasp Leppard had in balancing modern instruments with his own scholarly studies of Purcell's intentions. He also had a very good cast of singers, and was working with an orchestra that he helped found in the 1960s to bring back a lot of the less well-known aspects of Baroque-era music. Although he is a master in the Baroque and early classical period, and has done some really good recordings of 20th century music, both American and British, to me Leppard is something of an underrated conductor.

[jhar26]

This would make for a sorta ideal introduction to opera for the uninitiated. One thing that some prevents from checking out the genre is the lenght of many operas. This one doesn't take longer than most regular albums. Plus it's in English, so there's less of a need to look at translations in the booklet to know what's going on. And while it doesn't have lots of catchy tunes that you can't get out of your mind like with Mozart or romantic opera it's very accessible music as well.

[erik]

I think it's because an opera can be small in scale and short in length as this one is, and still have an emotional resonance to it. The trick, of course, is to do it right, which is what I think Leppard, his cast of vocalists, and the English Chamber Orchestra did here.