Jeff Buckley singing “Dido’s Lament”

The first bit of opera I really connected with is a piece dubbed “Dido’s Lament” from Henry Purcell’s Dido and Aeneas.  I first heard it in an introductory music history class during my freshman year at Williams.  Even then, I loved the piece for its simplicity and the evocative melody that carries it.

For whatever reason, Jeff Buckley decided to perform “Dido’s Lament” at a festival in 1995.  As he seemed to do with everything he touched, Buckley brought the song to another emotional level.  Give it a listen and read Elvis Costello’s account of Jeff’s performance:

“When he started singing “Dido’s Lament” at the rehearsal, there were all these classical musicians who could not believe it. Here’s a guy shuffling up on stage and singing a piece of music normally thought to be the property of certain types of specifically developed voice, and he’s just singing, not doing it like a party piece, but doing something with it.”