One of the earliest recordings of Dame Janet Baker, and a good one to boot. It is funny to see her name was not on the front of the original first pressing. Probably the best part of the opera comes almost at the last: the aria When I am laid in earth.
When I am laid, am laid in earth, May my wrongs create
No trouble, no trouble in thy breast;
Remember me, remember me, but ah! forget my fate.
Remember me, but ah! forget my fate.
Purcell’s only real opera was based on book 4 of Virgil’s Aeneid. Dido is the queen of Carthage, and she is in pain for the lost love of the main character of the story, the Trojan hero Aeneas. The famous aria is used every year during Remembrance Day in London.