Those who are able to appreciate Purcell and appreciate "Dido's Lament" as a masterwork of Western music are blessed. I'm not a stranger to Baroque; for several years I regularly listened to Sunday Morning Baroque on my local public radio station. But that show mostly played the music of the late Baroque period with which Americans are most familiar: Bach, Handel, Vivaldi, Scarlatti. Purcell is not for me, but my favorite novelist is Henry James, who is despised by many a college student. James and I are both verbose.
I interjected here to address a loyal group of Kelli O'Hara fans that, if they didn't already know it, Kelli is giving her first solo performance at Carnegie Hall on Saturday, October 29th. If you wait until August, when tickets go on sale to the general public, be prepared to act fast.
Right now tickets are being sold only as part of a subscription with two other shows, including the New York Pops holiday concert which will include among its guests Ann Hampton Callaway and Liz Callaway.
https://www.carnegiehall.org/Subscriptions/2016-2017-Season/The-Originals/