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Purcell's Dido and Aeneas on Building a Library with Kirsten Gibson and Andrew McGregor

Kirsten Gibson discusses the available recordings of Purcell's Dido and Aeneas and makes a recommendation.

with Andrew McGregor

9.30
Building a Library
Another chance to hear Kirsten Gibson discussing the available recordings of Purcell's Dido and Aeneas and making a recommendation.

Uncertainty surrounds the origins Purcell's Dido and Aeneas. It's thought to be from the late 1680s, towards the end of Purcell's short life, and some evidence points to a Chelsea girls' school as the unlikely venue of its premiere. Unlikely because the exceptional quality of its music and drama make the English court a more probable location for one of the greatest of all English musical stage works. Based on part of Virgil's Aeneid, love, abandonment and despair are its eternal themes, all of which are devastatingly portrayed in its most famous number, Dido's lament 'When I am laid in earth', an aria which has always attracted some of the most starry singers.

The current catalogue shows Dido is an internationally acknowledged masterpiece and the preserve of period performance specialists, but its recorded history began in the 1930s, long predating both of those aspects.

10.50
Edward Seckerson joins Andrew McGregor to review 'Herbert von Karajan - Complete Decca Recordings', a new 33-disc box set of remastered recordings made by the best-selling conductor in the history of the gramophone.

11.20
Record of the Week
Andrew recommends an outstanding new release.

2 hours, 46 minutes

Music Played

  • Robert Schumann

    Finale, Op. 52

    Orchestra: London Symphony Orchestra. Conductor: Sir John Eliot Gardiner.
    • Schumann: Overture, Scherzo & Finale.
    • Lso Live.
    • 3.
  • Ludwig van Beethoven

    Violin Sonata no.5 in F major Op.24 'Spring' (1st mvt)

    Performer: James Ehnes. Performer: Andrew Armstrong.
    • Onyx Classics.
  • John Jenkins

    Newark Siege

    • Ricercar.
  • Ludwig van Beethoven

    String Quartet No. 16 in F Major, Op. 135 (2nd mvt)

    Performer: Mari Kodama.
    • Kaleidoscope.
    • PENTATONE.
    • 5.
  • Johannes Brahms

    Piano Concerto No. 2 (3rd mvt)

    Performer: Lars Vogt. Orchestra: Royal Northern Sinfonia.
    • Brahms: Piano Concerto No. 2 & Handel Variations.
    • Ondine.
    • 3.
  • Marc'Antonio Ingegneri

    Vidi speciosam (Arr. G. Wilson for Choir & Chamber Ensemble)

    Conductor: Gareth Wilson. Ensemble: Historic Brass of the Guildhall School and Royal Welsh College of Music and Dram. Choir: Choir of Girton College.
    • Ingegneri: Missa laudate pueri Dominum & Other Works.
    • Toccata Classics.
    • 15.
  • John Adams

    Must the Devil Have All the Good Tunes? (1st mvt, Gritty, Funky, But in strict Tempo; Twitchy, Bot-Like)

    Performer: Yuja Wang. Orchestra: Los Angeles Philharmonic. Conductor: Gustavo Dudamel.
    • Deutsche Grammophon.
  • Richard Strauss

    Das Tanzlied - Das Nachtlied (Also Sprach Zarathustra) [excerpt]

    Conductor: Herbert von Karajan. Orchestra: Vienna Philharmonic.
    • Decca.
  • Gustav Holst

    Mars (The Planets, Op. 32) [excerpt]

    Orchestra: Vienna Philharmonic. Conductor: Herbert von Karajan.
    • Decca.
  • Antonín Dvořák

    Symphony No. 8 in G major, Op. 88 (3rd mvt) [excerpt]

    Orchestra: Vienna Philharmonic. Conductor: Herbert von Karajan.
  • Johannes Brahms

    Symphony No. 1 in C minor, Op. 68 (1st mvt) [excerpt]

    Orchestra: Vienna Philharmonic. Conductor: Herbert von Karajan.
  • Giacomo Puccini

    O suave fanciulla (La Bohème) [Excerpt]

    Singer: Mirella Freni. Singer: Luciano Pavarotti. Orchestra: Berliner Philharmoniker. Conductor: Herbert von Karajan.
    • Decca.

Record Review

9.00am

Ìý

Schumann: Overture, Scherzo & Finale

London Symphony Orchestra

Sir John Eliot Gardiner (conductor)

LSO Live LSO0319 (download)

Ìý

Beethoven: Violin Sonatas Nos. 4, 5 & 8

James Ehnes (violin)

Andrew Armstrong (piano)

Onyx ONYX4208

Ìý

A Consort’s Monument: music by Coprario, Lawes, Monteverdi, Ferrabosco etc.

Yoann Moulin (virginals)

³¢â€™A³¦³óé°ù´Ç²Ô

Ricercar RIC413

Ìý

Kaleidoscope - Beethoven Transcriptions: Saint-Saëns, Balakirev, Mussorgsky, Beethoven

Mari Kodama (piano)

Pentatone PTC5186841 (Hybrid SACD)

Ìý

9.30am – Building a Library – Kirsten Gibson on Purcell’s Dido and Aeneas (NOTE: this is a repeat; it was first broadcast on 30th November 2019)

Ìý

Composer: Henry Purcell

Reviewer: Kirsten Gibson

Ìý

Recommended Recording:

Rebecca Outram (soprano)

Carys Lane (soprano)

Sarah Tynan (soprano)

Lucy Crowe (soprano)

Sarah Connolly (mezzo-soprano)

Patricia Bardon (mezzo-soprano)

William Purefoy (counter-tenor)

John Mark Ainsley (tenor)

Gerald Finley (baritone)

Choir & Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment

Elizabeth Kenny (director)

Steven Devine (director)

Chaconne CHAN0757

Ìý

Other Recommended Recordings:

Ìý

Susan Graham (soprano)

Camilla Tilling (soprano)

Cécile de Boever (soprano)

Felicity Palmer (mezzo-soprano)

David Daniels (counter-tenor)

Ian Bostridge (tenor)

Paul Agnew (tenor)

European Voices

Le Concert d’Astrée

Emmanuelle Haïm (harpsichord & direction)

Erato 9668212

Ìý

Kirsten Flagstad (soprano)

Elisabeth Schwarzkopf (soprano)

Eilidh McNab (soprano)

Sheila Rex (soprano)

Anna Pollak (soprano)

Arda Mandikian (mezzo-soprano)

David Lloyd (tenor)

Thomas Hemsley (baritone)

The Mermaid Singers and Orchestra

Geraint Jones (conductor)

Naxos 8111264

Ìý

Eileen Poulter (soprano)

Rhianon James (soprano)

Patricia Clarke (soprano)

Dorothy Dorow (soprano)

Catherine Wilson (soprano)

Dame Janet Baker (mezzo-soprano)

Monica Sinclair (mezzo-soprano)

John Mitchinson (tenor)

Raimund Herincx (baritone)

The St. Anthony Singers

Thurston Dart (continuo)

English Chamber Orchestra

Anthony Lewis (conductor)

Decca 4663872

Ìý

10.15am – New Releases

Ìý

Brahms: Piano Concerto No. 2 & Handel Variations

Lars Vogt (piano/director)

Northern Sinfonia

Ondine ODE13462

Ìý

Marc'Antonio Ingegneri: Missa Laudate Pueri Dominum and Giovanni Croce: In spiritu humilitatis

Choir of Girton College

Wayne Weaver (organ)

James Mitchell (organ)

Historic Brass of the Guildhall School and Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama

Gareth Wilson (conductor)

Toccata Classics TOCC0556

Ìý

John Adams: Must the Devil Have All the Good Tunes? and China Gates

Yuja Wang (piano)

Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra

Gustavo Dudamel (conductor)

Deutsche Grammophon 4838289 (download)

Ìý

10.45am – New Releases – Edward Seckerson on Decca’s Herbert von Karajan box

Ìý

Herbert von Karajan - Complete Decca Recordings

Berliner Philharmoniker

Wiener Philharmoniker

Herbert von Karajan (conductor)

Decca 4834903 (33 CDs)

Ìý

11.15am – Record of the Week

Ìý

Apotheosis: Beethoven - The Complete String Quartets Vol. III

Cuarteto Casals

Harmonia Mundi HMM90240608 (3 CDs)

Broadcast

  • Sat 25 Apr 2020 09:00

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