Sir Colin Davis, Academy Of Saint Martin In The Fields – Purcell: Dido & Aeneas (1970) [Reissue 2016] [SACD / PentaTone – PTC 5186 230]
![Sir Colin Davis, Academy Of Saint Martin In The Fields - Purcell: Dido & Aeneas (1970) [Reissue 2016]](https://imghd.xyz/images/2025/08/28/B9hekLJ.jpg "Sir Colin Davis, Academy Of Saint Martin In The Fields - Purcell: Dido & Aeneas (1970) [Reissue 2016]")
Title: Sir Colin Davis, Academy Of Saint Martin In The Fields – Purcell: Dido & Aeneas (1970) [Reissue 2016]
Genre: Classical
Format: MCH SACD ISO + DSF DSD64 + Hi-Res FLAC
When Henry Purcell wrote his one and only opera “Dido and Aeneas” in the second half of the seventeenth century, there was no existing opera tradition in England. With a libretto based on Virgil’s Aeneid and its music stylistically close to and derived from the typically English ‘Masque’ form, Purcell created a monumental baroque opera. On this 1970 multi-channel Philips Classics recording, Dido is interpreted by soprano Josephine Veasey. The Academy of St Martin in the Fields and the John Alldis choir are conducted by Sir Colin Davis. The recording has been remastered in 2015 and is now re-released in Pentatones’s Remastered Classics series, which finally gives it the chance to expose its magnificent sound quality.
In 2016, multichannel recording is regarded by classical listeners as state of the art, and some of the finest recordings available have been released in the hybrid SACD format. In 1970, quadraphonic recording was the most advanced technology, and Philips was one of the leading labels developing the process, as shown by this historic recording of Henry Purcell’s Dido and Aeneas. This early English opera may not seem like a practical demonstration piece for showing off the depth, wide frequency range, and clarity of Philips’ quadraphonic recording, or, for that matter, PentaTone’s multichannel remastering, considering the rather monochrome sound of strings and continuo. However, Colin Davis and the Academy of St Martin in the Fields delivered with extraordinary energy and precision, and the cast – featuring Josephine Veasey as Dido, John Shirley-Quirk as Aeneas, and Helen Donath as Belinda – sang with crisp diction, beautiful tone, and powerful presence. The spaciousness of the recording is most evident whenever the John Alldis Choir enters with its vigorous choruses, and the dramatic contrasts with the soloists highlight the effectiveness of the innovative microphone placement. Newcomers to this opera may skip ahead to Dido’s famous aria, When I am laid in earth, but because the opera runs less than an hour, the recording deserves a full hearing to reveal its excellence as a performance and as an important artifact from the early days of audiophile sound. Highly recommended.