Love and betrayal at the highest level. The encounter between the Carthaginian queen Dido and the Trojan refugee Aeneas is one of the most famous love stories of all time, and no one has set it to music as movingly as the English composer Henry Purcell in his opera Dido and Aeneas. Joyce DiDonato has had When I am laid in earth, the famous final song from it, in her repertoire for many years. On the new Erato complete recording of the baroque masterpiece, she now sings the complete female title role for the first time. The expressive "BariTenor" at her side: Michael Spyres, who sings Aeneas in this live recording made in 2024. A kind of déjà vu, as the two American superstars could already be heard in the same roles (only with different music) in the Erato recording of Hector Berlioz' Les Troyens with the Orchestre philharmonique de Strasbourg and John Nelson in 2017. This time, Il pomo d'oro, one of the most renowned early music ensembles in the world, is on board, which, under its musical director Maxim Emelyanychev, brings the variety of Baroque orchestral colors to life and also provides exciting moments with its outstanding choir. The rest of the protagonists in this story of love, betrayal and the forces of evil are also cast at the highest level. Fatma Said as Belinda, for example, had audiences and critics raving. The mezzo-soprano Beth Taylor, who plays the scheming sorceress, caused no less of a sensation and was described by The Times as a "brilliant display of villainous delight".