English Chamber Orchestra, Raymond Leppard - Purcell: Dido and Aeneas (1986)

At under an hour this mini-masterpiece should be in every opera-lover's collection. There are scores of versions available but I tend to favour those with a Dido of really starry vocal quality given that her torments lie at the heart of the opera and all other considerations are secondary: Purcell and his librettist Nathum Tate make little of Aeneas's psychology and the other roles are all supplementary, reflecting upon Dido's plight, even to the extent of some suggesting that the Sorceress is her alter ego (I don't really see it, myself; too much post-Freudian psycho-babble, if you ask me.)
So my three favourite recordings feature mezzo (or, as in Jessye Norman's case, mezzo-ish) divas: Janet Baker's youthful tour de force, Tatiana Troyanos under Charles Mackerras and this one under review. I appreciate that all are now rather venerable: this, the most recent, was recorded in 1985 but so what? They are not heavy or soupy; indeed Leppard instils lots of spring into his rhythms and uses small, alert forces.
Everything works in this account: Norman is able to lighten her velvety timbre when required to convey vulnerability but she can roll out the big, glossy tones for her grandest moments. Tom Allen's neat, flexible and virile baritone is ideal and he is most moving in his brief passages of conflict. Marie McLaughlin's Belinda is delightful, even if her diction is a little occluded, and the supporting cast contains some famous names. I especially like Derek Lee Ragin's ethereal and sinister Spirit, the best on disc, while Patrick Power's sailor is suitably robust. Patricia Kern characterises strongly as the Sorceress without overdoing it and she has a lovely firm voice.
In the end, it's Norman's glorious tour de force as Dido which counts; she invests her every utterance with either the stately grandeur or the plangent suffering it requires and thus her interpretation stands alongside Janet Baker's as a monument to her voice and art.