IN ENGLISH - WITH SUB-TITLES IN ENGLISH?

The last night of the Proms. A time when there are likely to be a number of young minds making their first acquaintance with splendid music. So, the organisers give us an excerpt from 'Dido and Aeneas', beautifully sung by Sarah Connolly. The voice reaches a passionate phrase. But what is she singing about? If the young listen carefully they will hear her enunciate - 'ghu-MAH-ma-mah, ghu-MAH-ma-mah!' Old hands lucky enough to know where we are in the music will know that this is where Dido cries so piercingly 'Remember me! Remember me!' But the vowels and consonants are not easy to sing - so Connolly does not sing them. Baffling to the newcomer.

She is not alone in this. Joan Sutherland used to sing whole operatic roles in a handy language all her own. This seems to me to show a contempt for language; it implies that musical considerations can trample words underfoot.

Tate's libretto is feeble stuff, and at times risible, but it is the framework on which the whole work hangs. If we are not told why Dido cries out so piteously what is the point?