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Just some things I've been listening to (in those rare moments when I'm not at Otello). None of it very new.

William Christie and Emmanuelle Haïm might be among my favourite pin-ups, but when it   comes to Dido & Aeneas it seems I am an old  fashioned girl after all. This 1961 recording is my third so far and it's by far the closest to my imagined ideal. You would not believe that this was Janet's first ever operatic recording, she's stunning. Patricia Clark is a lovely Belinda. Aeneas is cast as a bass baritone! Massively inauthentic, of course — yawn — but I confess, I like it. If nothing else it makes him sound a bit less whiny. (I have never liked Aeneas. In any incarnation.) And the overall spirit and sound of this Dido is just plain excellent. It sounds like the Dido in my head. Only better, as you'd expect. Besides, though one hates to be chauvinistic — and even though Véronique Gens is divine in every language — I do sort of prefer my Purcell without a French accent. Désolée.

Sticking with early English loveliness, I have finally had a chance to hear this, Mark Padmore's disc of Dowland lute songs. Eat your heart out, Sting*; this is quality. I'm starting to think that wonderful lutenist Elizabeth Kenny might be a good luck charm. She's on Carolyn Sampson's astounding Purcell disc too. I do love these songs, some of which I've known since childhood, courtesy of Kathleen Battle's and Christopher Parkening's Pleasures of their Company. As for Mark, he is his dreamy self. Craig Ogden's guitar solo in the middle (Britten's Nocturnal, variations on Dowland's Come, heavy sleep) is a delight too. And as it's a Hyperion release, there's a nice painting on the cover; rather than a photo of Mark looking like a vagrant, as on his Handel arias.

 Something which has been around for quite a while, but which I only recently acquired, is Jennifer Larmore's L'Etoile, her disc of French arias both familiar and un. Lately Jennifer's been a mixed bag for me but this recital represents the Jennifer I know and love — her stately, shapely tone and impassioned delivery. It is always a good sign if I find myself actually interested in a rendition of "Mon coeur s'ouvre à ta voix." Her Berlioz is great as well, and she amuses herself greatly in the Chabrier novelty track. She also manages a touching but non-saccharine "Connais-tu le pays", which deserves another pat on the back. I meant to buy this CD years ago and then never did. So pleased I finally have it.

 I've only listened to this pair of Zelenka discs — his Requiem and the oratorio I Penitenti al Sepolcro del Redentore — once each, so have little to say. Obviously they're beautiful. But the main point of interest (for me, at any rate) is that they contain a twenty-one year old Magdalena Kozena. Before she was a star, before she was Lady Rattle (yes, I know she isn't actually Lady Rattle), before she was anything other than a wonderfully promising contralto. She's excellent. Speaking of Magdalena, I've just seen tonight that she has a new one (recital disc, that is) on the way. Songs My Mother Taught Me (oh, come on, she had to do it some time), a collection of Czech songs she's known since childhood. Given that her first disc of Czech songs is still one of the most fantastic things she's ever done, I'm very much looking forward to this. It even has Dorothea Roeschmann on it — how could it go wrong?

*The best line by far in the otherwise underwhelming Jam and Jerusalem was Jennifer Saunders' snobbish character recounting a party at Madonna's. "It was a lovely evening. Until Sting played the lute."

Comments

[LadyBlogger]

Did I get this right... Veronique Gens has recorded DIDO?

musthavemusthavemusthave!!!!

[Sarah]

Yes, you did, yes, she has and yes, you MUST. It's on Erato with William Christie and Les Arts Flo.
Arkiv Music link here.

My Janet preference notwithstanding, it's pretty fantastic. And Divine Véronique is amazing, as you'd expect.

[LadyBlogger]

I. Love. Her. Especially her Mozart arias and the Nuit d'etoiles disc with Vignoles (although I can take or leave him, give me Martineau any day!) Thanks for the link!

[Sarah]

I love her too. Have you heard her Chants d'Auvergne? AMAZING. Both volumes.
I'm with you re: Malcolm M too.

[Barbara]

Janet Baker is my favorite Dido, too.

[LadyBlogger]

Actually I haven't heard her Chants d'Auvergne. I have the Victoria de los Angeles recording, which is superlative of course. I didn't even know La Veronique had recorded them.

Sad. I am sad. Very sad. I seem to be missing an awful lot that I should not be missing.

[Sarah]

They are definitely worth seeking out. And they're on Naxos, which means they're ridiculously cheap.

[LadyBlogger]

It seems we like a lot of the same singers... wonderful to see another with great taste ;-)