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Saturday Night at the Opera playlist for 01/08/2012

Submitted by Zoë Harris on Sun, 8 Jan 2012, 2:52am
DJs: 
Zoë Harris
Artist Title Album Label Link
Monteverdi, Claudio Coronation of Poppea Santini Kammerorchester, Rudolf Ewerhart (directtor). Hans-Ulrich Mielsch (as Nerone); Eugenia Zareska (Ottavia); Ursula Buckel (Poppea); Grayston Burgess (Ottone) Stereovox LP
Purcell, Henry Dido and Aeneas Oriana Concert Choir and Orchestra, Alfred Deller (conductor). Mary Thomas (as Dido), Honor Sheppard (Belinda), Maurice Bevan (Aaneas) Vanguard Everyman Classics LP
Blow, John Third Act of Venus and Adonis Orchestra of the Age of Enlightnement, Rene Jacobs (director) & Clare College Chapel Choir Thimoty Brown (choirsmaster). . Rosemary Joshua (as Venus) & Gerald Finley (Adonis) Harmonia Mundi CD

The operas heard tonight were all written and composed in the 17th Century and based on Classical themes and stories from Roman Antiquity. Purcell's "Dido and Aeneas" is modeled on the episode from Virgil's epic "the Aeneid", and Blow's "Venus and Adonis" is based on Ovid's "Metamorphoses," Book X. Monteverdi's "Coronation of Poppea" is based on the historical writings by Tacitus and others, which tells the story of Poppaea, mistress to Emperor Nero (Nerone), and her ascendance to the title of Empress of Rome.

The first half was programmed by Katie Salmon, second half by Zoe Harris