Bal 4.02.23 - Purcell: The Fairy Queen

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  • Eine Alpensinfonie
    Host
    • Nov 2010
    • 20570

    Bal 4.02.23 - Purcell: The Fairy Queen

    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)
    Last edited by Eine Alpensinfonie; 18-02-23, 13:33.
  • oddoneout
    Full Member
    • Nov 2015
    • 9150

    #2
    So do away with the stage!
    Opera at the big houses is a circus with acts that include £10million donations , vanity productions and shuffle maestros . My photo above ...

    This also happens to be rather topical given the ACE opera funding controversies.

    Comment

    • Eine Alpensinfonie
      Host
      • Nov 2010
      • 20570

      #3
      Originally posted by oddoneout View Post
      So do away with the stage!
      Opera at the big houses is a circus with acts that include £10million donations , vanity productions and shuffle maestros . My photo above ...

      This also happens to be rather topical given the ACE opera funding controversies.
      Opera North has been doing it for some time.

      Comment

      • MickyD
        Full Member
        • Nov 2010
        • 4749

        #4
        I have another William Christie/Les Arts Florissants version on CD, recorded in the 90s for Harmonia Mundi, and great fun it is, too. A pity if it's no longer available.

        Comment

        • Pulcinella
          Host
          • Feb 2014
          • 10897

          #5
          The Scholars Bartoque Ensemble version Alpie lists looks intriguing: a Franco–Hungarian take on the piece?


          (I see that that's how it features in Presto's listings: no blame attaches to Alpie!)

          Comment

          • smittims
            Full Member
            • Aug 2022
            • 4097

            #6
            A once well-known 'version' was Benjamin Britten's attempt to make the work manageable within a concert format, done originally for the Aldeburgh Festival. Forgetting the original staging, he re-ordered the music into four groups corresponding to themes and moods of the words, e.g. 'Oberon's Birthday' and 'Night and Silence'. About a third of Purcell's music was omitted.

            It met a varied response, despite the quality of the singig and playing. One wit even proposed a similar restructuring of 'Peter Grimes' just to make the point about tampering with another composer's work.

            I was sorry to see that when the Decca recording was reissued in a 2-disc set with Britten's version of 'Dido and Aeneas' no mention was made that it was not Purcell's complete and original version.

            Comment

            • RichardB
              Banned
              • Nov 2021
              • 2170

              #7
              Originally posted by smittims View Post
              A once well-known 'version' was Benjamin Britten's attempt to make the work manageable within a concert format, done originally for the Aldeburgh Festival. Forgetting the original staging, he re-ordered the music into four groups corresponding to themes and moods of the words, e.g. 'Oberon's Birthday' and 'Night and Silence'. About a third of Purcell's music was omitted.

              It met a varied response, despite the quality of the singig and playing. One wit even proposed a similar restructuring of 'Peter Grimes' just to make the point about tampering with another composer's work.
              I can see the point of doing that, although it would have been better not to lose any of Purcell's music. And it isn't really the same as reordering an opera since The Fairy Queen isn't intended to have any narrative continuity of its own. Failing a production of the complete play with Purcell in the interstices as originally produced, surely it's acceptable to present the music in whatever order gives it most expressive sense and impact. (Maybe I would like Peter Grimes if it were reordered, but that's just me!)

              Comment

              • Wolfram
                Full Member
                • Jul 2019
                • 273

                #8
                Originally posted by smittims View Post
                A once well-known 'version' was Benjamin Britten's attempt to make the work manageable within a concert format, done originally for the Aldeburgh Festival. Forgetting the original staging, he re-ordered the music into four groups corresponding to themes and moods of the words, e.g. 'Oberon's Birthday' and 'Night and Silence'. About a third of Purcell's music was omitted.

                It met a varied response, despite the quality of the singig and playing. One wit even proposed a similar restructuring of 'Peter Grimes' just to make the point about tampering with another composer's work.

                I was sorry to see that when the Decca recording was reissued in a 2-disc set with Britten's version of 'Dido and Aeneas' no mention was made that it was not Purcell's complete and original version.
                It’s worth hearing for Jennifer Vyvyan’s contribution.

                I expect McCreesh will figure strongly. I have just listened to Harry Christophers which I really enjoyed; Gillian Fisher and Ann Murray both really excellent.

                I had Christie’s cd version once, but can’t seem to find it at the moment.

                Comment

                • Eine Alpensinfonie
                  Host
                  • Nov 2010
                  • 20570

                  #9
                  Originally posted by Pulcinella View Post
                  The Scholars Bartoque Ensemble version Alpie lists looks intriguing: a Franco–Hungarian take on the piece?


                  (I see that that's how it features in Presto's listings: no blame attaches to Alpie!)
                  I did wonder about it.

                  Comment

                  • Lordgeous
                    Full Member
                    • Dec 2012
                    • 830

                    #10
                    "It’s worth hearing for Jennifer Vyvyan’s contribution."

                    Anything featuring Jennifer Vyvyan is worth hearing IMHO.

                    Comment

                    • Darloboy
                      Full Member
                      • Jun 2019
                      • 323

                      #11
                      Previous BaL choices:

                      Graham Sadler - Jan 94: Christophers + Scholars Baroque as Budget Price recommendation

                      Simon Heighes - Sep 11: Christie as DVD choice; Christophers as CD Choice. The Britten version & Savall’s version of the orchestral suite were also mentioned.

                      Comment

                      • smittims
                        Full Member
                        • Aug 2022
                        • 4097

                        #12
                        Yes, I return to the Britten recording as often as I do to the Anthony Lewis, which remains the classic version for me.

                        Comment

                        • Darloboy
                          Full Member
                          • Jun 2019
                          • 323

                          #13
                          Originally posted by Darloboy View Post
                          Previous BaL choices:

                          Graham Sadler - Jan 94: Christophers + Scholars Baroque as Budget Price recommendation

                          Simon Heighes - Sep 11: Christie as DVD choice; Christophers as CD Choice. The Britten version & Savall’s version of the orchestral suite were also mentioned.
                          I should add that there was a BaL on Purcell's stage works presented by Roderick Swanston in June 1998. He picked Christie's Harmonia Mundi CD as his choice for The Fairy Queen. Incidentally, that Christie DVD/Blu Ray is a fantastic Glyndebourne production directed by Jonathan Kent.

                          Comment

                          • BBMmk2
                            Late Member
                            • Nov 2010
                            • 20908

                            #14
                            I’ll be looking forward to this. I do rather like this work.
                            Don’t cry for me
                            I go where music was born

                            J S Bach 1685-1750

                            Comment

                            • visualnickmos
                              Full Member
                              • Nov 2010
                              • 3609

                              #15
                              Originally posted by BBMmk2 View Post
                              I’ll be looking forward to this. I do rather like this work.
                              You appear to be the only one!

                              Comment

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