Naxos continues its welcome re-release of opera productions previously available on the boutique FRA label. There wasn’t a duffer amongst François Roussillon’s immaculately curated collection, making these DVDs and Blu-ray mandatory purchases if you missed them first time round.

Purcell ‘s Dido and Aeneas was one of the earliest attempts at opera in the English language, written either for a girls’ school or possibly for the court of King Charles II. If it were the latter, the Merry Monarch with his taste for all things continental would have loved the seamless mix of French and English artistry in this Opéra Comique staging from 2008. Les Arts Florissants is led by William Christie in a ravishingly decorated musical account with a nod perhaps to Purcell’s cross-channel contemporaries Lully and Charpentier.

Deborah Warner’s engaging production manages to have one foot in the period camp and one in the here and now. The former is represented by Chloe Obolensky’s gilded Baroque proscenium stage and the sumptuous 17th-century court costumes worn by Dido and her ladies. The thoroughly modern elements include a chorus who sing...