James S. Eisenberg 4.0 out of 5 starsA Plethora Of Great Australian Mezzos And More ! April 11, 2012 With Margreta Elkins as Cassandre, Lauris Elms as Didon, Heather Begg as Hecube, not to mention Alberto Remedios and Noel Mangin, the cast of this abridged 130 minute TROYENS in English, from Melbourne in 1985 reads like a Who's Who of Australian singers. Only Dame Joan is missing. (No appropriate role !) Remedios as Enee is not in top form, but everyone else shines. Margreta Elkins in particular sings beautifully with that wonderful burnished tone of hers. Richard Divall leads the huge forces with a sure sense of drama and style. (Don't know if this was a concert or staged performance.) None of the famous orchestral bits are included. Missing are the preludes, the ballet, the Trojan March and the Royal Hunt and Storm. It is hard to determine if they were not performed or simply left out of this CD issue. In all but the densest choral moments, the unidentified translation is fully understandable. The sound recording is clear and listenable throughout. The set also includes another abridged (95 minutes from Acts III, IV and V) TROYENS A CARTHAGE in French from Den Haag under Willem Van Otterloo in 1952. The sound recording is surprisingly good, and this one does include the orchestral bits. With Arda Mandikian repeating the role of Didon that she recorded in the studio under Scherchen at around the same time, this one definitely makes strong dramatic points for a concert version. It is a delight to encounter a very young and much under recorded Mattiwilda Dobbs as Ascagne. As usual with the Gala label, there are good liner notes, but no texts.