Henry Purcell: "Dido's Lament" (1688), performed live by Jeff Buckley - remastered by Danny C.

Dido's Lament is the aria "When I am laid in earth" from C17 English composer Henry Purcell's opera, Dido and Aeneas, written no later than 1688. Text below.

Here, we have the late Jeff Buckley, American rock singer-songwriter and guitarist, performing both the recitative and the aria live at the "Meltdown Festival" 1995 - Queen Elizabeth Hall, London. It was at the invitation of Elvis Costello that Jeff performed this piece at that venue.

For me, it's a stunning, heartfelt performance - especially from a man who had no classical training at all. Few in the pop/rock world know much about the English Baroque idiom (for example) - much less care - so it's a real joy to see this kind of advocacy.

Of course, for those who prefer a more "authentic" performance (or are otherwise sniffy) there are many other performances to choose from in the established repertoire.

This recording was apparently taken from a bootleg of the concert, subsequently remastered by a number of people who wanted to preserve and enhance the sole recording of Jeff's performance for all of us to cherish.

In this superb remastering (given what was available) YouTuber Danny C. https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCc_Dkw7wyDfnSjxBoKDCrpA

(who kindly gave me permission to use his FLAC RM) writes:

"The overall goal for the remaster was to give the track more of a studio sound and feeling, so I clipped out the audience at the beginning and the end. I removed most of the background noise from the original recording, and brought out Jeff's vocals in the EQ so that it's in the front of the mix. There is still some slight background noise remaining if you listen closely, but the vocals should be much more clear in this remaster. FLAC version available upon request".

Thank you Danny!

TEXT

Recitative (included in this recording)

Thy hand, Belinda, darkness shades me,
On thy bosom let me rest,
More I would, but Death invades me;
Death is now a welcome guest.

Aria

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.

I took these pictures (except for Purcell and Jeff Buckley) in various parts of the Peak District National Park, Derbyshire, England.

Видео Henry Purcell: "Dido's Lament" (1688), performed live by Jeff Buckley - remastered by Danny C. канала AntPDC