My first introduction to this opera came through Jessye Norman 1986.recording so naturally everything else that came down my way sounded wrong,such is the force of the first impressions. It took me forever to actually stop and listen any other interpretation and this one,recorded in 1952. although very pretty in its own subdued and simple way I grudgingly accept only as quaint and dated post WW2 version of famous piece. We should probably never know for sure how was this supposed to sound, since to our times came only as adaptation made in eighteenth century.
This particular recording was made after actor/manager Bernard Miles created theatre in London in a style of old Elizabethan playhouses and "Dido and Aeneas" was so popular that artists re-created their performances in the studio - famous Wagnerian soprano Kirsten Flagstad toned it down a bit for the part of Dido and as producer Walter Legge was a big deal (he was founder of Philharmonia) his wife Elisabeth Schwarzkopf got not one but three roles here - this is not to take anything from one of the best known sopranos of the time,but I couldn't help but to notice a certain "Godfather" connections being pulled in the background. I am absolutely sure that there must be hundred of other sopranos equally talented and available at the time - even more suspicious is the fact that Schwarzkopf herself never even appeared in "Mermaid theatre" live production but was present in the studio for making of this recording.Really?
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