10.30am
Building a Library: Purcell’s Fairy Queen with Nicholas Kenyon.
Purcell’s magnum opus was written as a series of masques to be performed at the end of the acts of a special version of Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream. Arguably the greatest British composer before the 20th century, Purcell left us a tantalizing array of music for use in theatrical productions, which shows what an unsurpassed gift he had for matchings words and mood with music. Apart from the small-scale masterpiece, Dido and Aeneas, none of these pieces quite hangs together as a satisfying work of music theatre. The Fairy Queen is the closest we have to that. Written in a hybrid form of spoken drama and masque, it is notoriously difficult to bring off on the stage. But it is ideal for home listening. Nicholas Kenyon sifts through a strong field of some of the greatest names in baroque performance.
Available versions:-
James Bowman, Peter Pears, Mary Wells, Ian Partridge, John Shirley-Quirk, Norma Burrowes, Alfreda Hodgson, Jennifer Vyvyan, Charles Brett, Owen Brannigan, English Chamber Orchestra, Ambrosian Singers, Benjamin Britten *
Lucy Crowe, Claire Debono, Anna Devin, Helen-Jane Howells, Carolyn Sampson, Robert Burt, Sean Clayton, Ed Lyon, Adrian Ward, Lukas Kargl, Desmond Barrit, Andrew Foster-Williams, Glyndebourne Chorus & Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment, William Christie (DVD/Blu-ray)
Ann Murray, Lorna Anderson, Gillian Fisher, John Mark Ainsley, Michael Chance, Richard Suart, Ian Partridge, Michael George, The Sixteen, Harry Christophers
Accademia Bizantina, Ottavio Dantone *
Eiddwen Harrhy, Jennifer Smith, Judith Nelson, Elisabeth Priday, Timothy Penrose, Wynford Evans, Martyn Hill, Stephen Varcoe, Ashley Stafford, English Baroque Soloists, Monteverdi Choir, John Eliot Gardiner *
Barbara Bonney, Sylvia McNair, Elisabeth von Magnus, Michael Chance, Concentus musicus Wien, Arnold Schoenberg Chor, Nikolaus Harnoncourt
Samuel Boden, Hjördis Thébault, Caroline Mutel, Christophe Baska, Guillaume Andrieux, Julien Picard, Kevin Greenlaw, Virginie Pochon, Ronan Nédélec, Caitlin Hulcup, Anders J. Dahlin, Frédéric Caton, Les Nouveaux Caractères, Sébastien d’Hérin
Deller Consort, Penelope Howard (vinyl)
Yvonne Kenny, Thomas Randle, Simon Rice, Richard Van Allan, Chorus and Orchestra of the English National Opera, Nicholas Kok (DVD)
Thomas Hemsley, Jennifer Vyvyan, Elsie Morison, Peter Pears, St. Anthony Singers, Boyd Neel Orchestra, Anthony Lewis
Carolyn Sampson, Anna Dennis, Mhairi Lawson, Ashley Riches, Roderick Williams, Gabrieli, Paul McCreesh
Armonico Consort, Christopher Monks
Lorraine Hunt-Lieberson, Catherine Pierard, Susan Bickley, Howard Crook, Mark Padmore, David Wilson-Johnson, Schütz Choir of London, London Classical Players, Sir Roger Norrington
Scholars Bartoque Ensemble
(* = download only)
Building a Library: Purcell’s Fairy Queen with Nicholas Kenyon.
Purcell’s magnum opus was written as a series of masques to be performed at the end of the acts of a special version of Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream. Arguably the greatest British composer before the 20th century, Purcell left us a tantalizing array of music for use in theatrical productions, which shows what an unsurpassed gift he had for matchings words and mood with music. Apart from the small-scale masterpiece, Dido and Aeneas, none of these pieces quite hangs together as a satisfying work of music theatre. The Fairy Queen is the closest we have to that. Written in a hybrid form of spoken drama and masque, it is notoriously difficult to bring off on the stage. But it is ideal for home listening. Nicholas Kenyon sifts through a strong field of some of the greatest names in baroque performance.
Available versions:-
James Bowman, Peter Pears, Mary Wells, Ian Partridge, John Shirley-Quirk, Norma Burrowes, Alfreda Hodgson, Jennifer Vyvyan, Charles Brett, Owen Brannigan, English Chamber Orchestra, Ambrosian Singers, Benjamin Britten *
Lucy Crowe, Claire Debono, Anna Devin, Helen-Jane Howells, Carolyn Sampson, Robert Burt, Sean Clayton, Ed Lyon, Adrian Ward, Lukas Kargl, Desmond Barrit, Andrew Foster-Williams, Glyndebourne Chorus & Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment, William Christie (DVD/Blu-ray)
Ann Murray, Lorna Anderson, Gillian Fisher, John Mark Ainsley, Michael Chance, Richard Suart, Ian Partridge, Michael George, The Sixteen, Harry Christophers
Accademia Bizantina, Ottavio Dantone *
Eiddwen Harrhy, Jennifer Smith, Judith Nelson, Elisabeth Priday, Timothy Penrose, Wynford Evans, Martyn Hill, Stephen Varcoe, Ashley Stafford, English Baroque Soloists, Monteverdi Choir, John Eliot Gardiner *
Barbara Bonney, Sylvia McNair, Elisabeth von Magnus, Michael Chance, Concentus musicus Wien, Arnold Schoenberg Chor, Nikolaus Harnoncourt
Samuel Boden, Hjördis Thébault, Caroline Mutel, Christophe Baska, Guillaume Andrieux, Julien Picard, Kevin Greenlaw, Virginie Pochon, Ronan Nédélec, Caitlin Hulcup, Anders J. Dahlin, Frédéric Caton, Les Nouveaux Caractères, Sébastien d’Hérin
Deller Consort, Penelope Howard (vinyl)
Yvonne Kenny, Thomas Randle, Simon Rice, Richard Van Allan, Chorus and Orchestra of the English National Opera, Nicholas Kok (DVD)
Thomas Hemsley, Jennifer Vyvyan, Elsie Morison, Peter Pears, St. Anthony Singers, Boyd Neel Orchestra, Anthony Lewis
Carolyn Sampson, Anna Dennis, Mhairi Lawson, Ashley Riches, Roderick Williams, Gabrieli, Paul McCreesh
Armonico Consort, Christopher Monks
Lorraine Hunt-Lieberson, Catherine Pierard, Susan Bickley, Howard Crook, Mark Padmore, David Wilson-Johnson, Schütz Choir of London, London Classical Players, Sir Roger Norrington
Scholars Bartoque Ensemble
(* = download only)
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