|
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Epicurus.com - Purcell - The Fairy Queen / Hunt, Pierard, Bickley, Crook, Padmore, Wilson-Johnson, Wistreich, Schütz Choir, LCP, Norrington
|
List Price: $10.98
Our Price: $8.49
Your Save: $ 2.49 ( 23% )
Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours
Manufacturer: Virgin Veritas
|
Average Customer Rating:  
|
|
Binding: Audio CD
EAN: 0724356195523
Format: Original recording reissued
Label: Virgin Veritas
Manufacturer: Virgin Veritas
Number Of Discs: 2
Publisher: Virgin Veritas
Release Date: 2002-04-09
Studio: Virgin Veritas
|
|
|
|
|
|
Editorial Reviews:
|
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
|
|
|
Spotlight customer reviews:
|
Customer Rating: 
Summary: Fine Vocal and Instramental Baroque
Comment: I have recently discovered Purcell's music. While singing in choir as a young college student, I sang, "Sound the Trumpet" which I loved and am anxiously awaiting a recording of that piece I ordered off Amazon. During my search, I came upon this recording written on a completely different theme and took interest, since it was loosely based on Shakespeare's "A Midsummer Nights Dream."
The other reviewers have described the format of this semi-opera well and I agree that the music and singers perform fabulously. The only other thing I have to add is that I find music can sometimes be used as a vehicle to relax the mind and even problem solve and I find these works to be that kind of music that isn't too demanding of the listener. You can think, get homework or housework done, or best of all, sit and listen. I call it "multi-purpose" and this music fits that category for me.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Great Recording!
Comment: 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").
Customer Rating:
Summary: Interesting and Lovely Music
Comment: 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.
Customer Rating:
Summary: If you like Monteverdi, you will love Purcell
Comment: 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.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
