Purcell’s opera is over before you know it, the fate of the gods and the ruin of a great queen played out in less than an hour. Its emotional enormity is built on miniatures – the longest ensemble lasts just over three minutes — but a fine performance should magic up a sense of epic. Christopher Monks and his Armonico Consort almost manage to. This is a clean, uncluttered account featuring crystalline voices, good diction, safe tempos and well-defined phrasing. Sometimes it all feels too inconsequential, too properly behaved. Dance numbers are jaunty; the witches are cheerful; the Echo Dance of the Furies is laboured; the Sailor’s Dances have a faux-West Country brogue that’s plain forced. Elin Manahan Thomas is airy and supple as Belinda; as Aeneas, Robert Davies is regal but reserved, hardly brimming with seduction tactics. On the flip side, vocal ensembles are luminous and the instrumental playing is bright and streamlined. Best of all is Rachael Lloyd’s dignified Dido, rich-voiced, poetic and flawlessly delivered.
