The latest video recording of Purcell’s Dido and Aeneas is from Versailles.  It’s a 2024 recording using the same production, by Cecille Roussat and Julien Lubek, as the 2014 Rouen recording and, like that one, there’s a lot of additional instrumental/dance music consistent with the idea that the piece was conceived as a court entertainment in the French style.  There’s not much point in repeating what I said back then about the production.  Check out the earlier review.

This is though a totally different cast with Sonya Yoncheva as Dido and Halidou Nombre as Aeneas, backed up by Sarah Charles as Belinda.  These days Yoncheva is singing roles like Tosca and Norma and, to my ears, she sounds too big and fruity, with rather too much vibrato, for Dido although she hasn’t forgotten how to ornament baroque music stylishly.  The bigger problem for me though is that it’s pretty clear they didn’t use an English diction coach.  Across the cast there are some really strange vowel sounds!  It’s way worse in that regard than the Rouen recording.

The band and chorus (the forces of l’Opéra Royal) though are excellent and I rather liked Stefan Plewniak’s conducting though “Ah Belinda” was really slow.  The dancers and aerialists are good too.  Video direction, by Julien Condemine is a bit fussy and gimmicky.

One advantage this has though is that there’s a Blu-ray.  It’s a typical Château de Versailles Spectacles release with both DVD and Blu-ray in the same box with a booklet.  The Blu-ray is technically quite good with a very decent picture and 48kHz/24bit stereo sound but there’s no surround track.  The DVD has a Dolby 2.0 stereo track only.  Very 1990s.  The booklet has much the same material as in the Rouen recording.

Honestly, if you want the tragédie lyrique vibe, the Rouen recording has better singing.  If you want a proper Blu-ray recoding with excellent singing and interesting production values the 2009 Royal Opera House recording with Sarah Connolly and the 2008 Paris recording with Malena Ernman are way better (even if you don’t buy Deborah Warner’s take on the girls’ school schtick).

Catalogue information: Château de Versailles Spectacles CVS188