Purcell - The Fairy Queen / Hunt, Pierard, Bickley, Crook, Padmore, Wilson-Johnson, Wistreich, Schütz Choir, LCP, Norrington [ORIGINAL RECORDING REISSUED]

Henry Purcell (Composer), Roger Norrington (Conductor), London Classical Players (Orchestra), Lorraine Hunt Lieberson (Performer), Susan Bickley (Performer), Howard Crook (Performer), David Wilson-Johnson (Performer), Mark Padmore (Performer), Catherine Pierard (Performer), Richard Wistreich (Performer)

Product Details

• Performer: Lorraine Hunt Lieberson, Susan Bickley, Howard Crook, David Wilson-Johnson, Mark Padmore, et al.
• Orchestra: London Classical Players
• Conductor: Roger Norrington
• Composer: Henry Purcell
• Audio CD (April 9, 2002)
• SPARS Code: DDD
• Number of Discs: 2
• Format: Original recording reissued
• Label: Virgin Veritas
• ASIN: B00005IA24
• In-Print Editions: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #30,290 in Music (See Bestsellers in Music)

  Popular in these categories: (What's this?)

  #33 in	Music > Classical > Historical Periods > Baroque (c.1600-1750) > Composers > Purcell, Henry
  #33 in	Music > Classical > Featured Composers, A-Z > ( P ) > Purcell, Henry
  #35 in	Music > Classical > Forms & Genres > Theatrical, Incidental & Program Music > Incidental Music

Track Listings

Disc: 1

1. The Fairy Queen, semi-opera, Z. 629: Prelude

2. The Fairy Queen, semi-opera, Z. 629: Hornpipe

3. The Fairy Queen, semi-opera, Z. 629: Air

4. The Fairy Queen, semi-opera, Z. 629: Rondeau

5. The Fairy Queen, semi-opera, Z. 629: Overture

6. The Fairy Queen, semi-opera, Z. 629: Come, let us leave the town

7. The Fairy Queen, semi-opera, Z. 629: Scene of the drunken poet

8. The Fairy Queen, semi-opera, Z. 629: First Act Tune: Jig

9. The Fairy Queen, semi-opera, Z. 629: Come all ye songsters

10. The Fairy Queen, semi-opera, Z. 629: Prelude

See all 30 tracks on this disc

Disc: 2

1. The Fairy Queen, semi-opera, Z. 629: Symphony

2. The Fairy Queen, semi-opera, Z. 629: Now the Night

3. The Fairy Queen, semi-opera, Z. 629: Let the Fifes, and the Clarions

4. The Fairy Queen, semi-opera, Z. 629: Entry of Phoebus

5. The Fairy Queen, semi-opera, Z. 629: When a cruel long Winter

6. The Fairy Queen, semi-opera, Z. 629: Hail! Great Parent

7. The Fairy Queen, semi-opera, Z. 629: Thus the ever Grateful Spring

8. The Fairy Queen, semi-opera, Z. 629: Here's the Summer

9. The Fairy Queen, semi-opera, Z. 629: See, see my many Colour'd Fields

10. The Fairy Queen, semi-opera, Z. 629: Now Winter comes Slowly

See all 28 tracks on this disc

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

Purcell worked immensely hard on his score for The Fairy Queen, but the original was lost. The version on which this performance is based arrived at London's Royal Academy of Music by devious routes a century and a half later. But in Roger Norrington's hands, it emerges in its pristine beauty: you could not wish for a better introduction to Purcell's greatest stage work. Only a "semi-opera," maybe, but one studded with exquisite songs and majestic choruses. The anonymous libretto is loosely based on Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream, but its inexhaustible melodic invention is imbued with Shakespearean magic. Some songs have become concert favorites, notably "O let me weep," but the joy of this double CD is that you discover dozens more, and of comparable quality. Purcell's music breathes in perfect tandem with the words and Norrington creates out of this a riveting symbiosis. The singing is pure Baroque-instrumental clarity of tone, unsullied by any vibrato, and the playing is immaculate. Comedy and pathos are both here in spades; vast space is evoked through the pairing of flutes and the echoing of trumpets. And so are all the colors of nature: Purcell's music foreshadows Vivaldi. --Michael Church

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

17 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Interesting and Lovely Music, February 6, 2004

By	R. Albin (Ann Arbor, Michigan United States) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

This 'semi-opera' is one of the last works of Henry Purcell, the greatest English Baroque composer. Essentially a series of scenes with linking music, The Fairy Queen, like other semi-operas, lacks the integrity of plot and action of real opera. In performance, I suspect this work would be somewhat static, sort of a serious music variety show. The music, however, is lovely. The Fairy Queen contains some of Purcell's best vocal and instrumental work with some components that became part of the concert repertoire. Hearing all the music together is a fine experience, though the semi-opera format tends to work against the dramatic and musical cohesion which can be found in even merely good operas. The vocalists are splendid, particularly Lorraine (as she was then spelling her name) Hunt. The orchestral playing is just as good.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great Recording!, February 8, 2008

By	Nathaniel Scott (Lexington, KY USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I originally heard Purcell's main theme from "The Fairy Queen" in James Newton Howard's score to the 1995 film "Restoration" starring Robert Downey, Jr. This 2CD set is a great presentation of Purcell's entire work. It was fun to discover the original context of this theme I have come to know so well. I also recommend Purcell's "King Arthur" (also featured in "Restoration").

9 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars If you like Monteverdi, you will love Purcell, August 20, 2002

By	Geza Z. Madarasz (LOS ANGELES, CA USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Absolutely beautifull baroque opera! The arrangament, singing and instrumentation is superb. If you liked Monteverdi's Coronation of Poppea, it is a must to have this baroque masterpiece! It is too bad that Henry Purcell is not as widely known as Bach, because he should be recognized equally well.