For their debut album on Challenge Classics, La Sfera Armoniosa and its artistic director have chosen orchestral music and arias from the operas by Henry Purcell. La Sfera Armoniosa, founded in 1992, is a Dutch Baroque ensemble and orchestra specializing in the performance of music from the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. Artistic director Mike Fentross writes: “I was really moved when I heard my orchestra playing the opening bars of Purcell. I heard a sound that was quite different to what I knew from other present-day baroque orchestras. Was this sound closer to that of Purcell’s own orchestra, a sound that he may have had in mind when composing this wondrous music? In the very first chat I had about this project with Lidewij van der Voort, our new concertmaster, we talked about the modern adaptations that are often (and understandably) applied to baroque instruments nowadays, and about the possibility of going back to authentic strings (completely bare gut) and a 17th century bow hold (the French grip) for this Purcell project. As it happens, I’d had a similar conversation not long before that with Lidewei de Sterck, our principal oboist, about authentic reeds (scraped from the inside) and with Graham Nicholson, about 17th century trumpets (natural trumpets with no fingerholes). These aspects, seemingly just details, have a major impact not just on the sound but also the way of playing and therefore on the way we interpret the music. We all felt the need to record this album with these ‘experimental’ instruments. An orchestral sound with so much transparency and color, a way of playing with such narrative power!”

PURCELL Songs: 1 Strike the Viol; The Queen’s Expedition; Here the Deities Approve; O solitude; Sweeter than roses; Music for a while; If music be the food of love; In the black dismal dungeon; An Evening Hymn. Dioclesian: 2 First music; Overture; First Act Tune; Dance of the Furies; Second Act Tune; Two in once upon a ground; The Chair Dance; Third Act Tune; Butterfly Dance; Country Dance; Dance of the Bacchanals; Still I’m wishing; Canaries; 2 Dances. Timon of Athens: 3 Curtain Tune • Michael Chance (ct); Richard Boothby (vdg); Maggie Cole (hpd); Nigel North (lt, thb); 1 Florilegium 2,3 • BRILLIANT 93937 (72:50)


I am unsure about the provenance of the music on this disc, which, though pleasing, combines two different sessions by two different groups. (The notes are uninformative; more mysteriously, the Brilliant Classics Web site doesn’t, if I have read it correctly, list this disc.) But the music is the thing, and the music here is beautifully stylish and well recorded, both the songs sung by countertenor Michael Chance, a known quantity since he began recording in 1980, and the theater music by Florilegium, a group of 10 accomplished musicians. Chance is an expressive singer and Nigel North an effective accompanist, as we hear especially in the most intimate songs, such as If music be the food of love. (North also plays on the Purcell song collection by Nancy Argenta.) There are a surprising number of alternatives to this collection, including performances by Alfred Deller, Emma Kirkby, Ian Partridge, and James Bowman who has done all the secular songs on three CDs. What this disc offers, besides the budget price, is a fine collection of songs with an equally fine collection of theater music, the lively “Country Dance” with its melody carried by two recorders as well as a “Bacchanal,” and several other imitative pieces. This is all light music, exquisitely tuneful and even boisterous in a courtly manner, and it has rarely been better played.


FANFARE: Michael Ullman

The music of the English Virginalists (virginal is a smaller variety of harpsichord) dating back to the turn of the 16th and 17th centuries served as an inspiration for the French harpsichord style, which, after several years, returned to Great Britain. It was adopted in such a mature form by the most outstanding composer born in England. Henry Purcell, conscious of the music's sources, enriched it with subsequent references to native musical traditions and with his own original compositional technique. The extremely meticulous interpretations of eight harpsichord suites by Purcell, performed by Ewa Rzetecka-Niewiadomska, convincingly confirm the artistry and aesthetic value of these compositions, with plenty of charm and stylistic treats, which, due to extra-musical reasons, are on the margin of the mainstream of the history of music.

Les Musiciens de Saint-Julien, guided by François Lazarevitch’s virtuoso flute, have already led us along the roads of Ireland and Scotland, notably the High Road to Kilkenny, a great success in 2016. This time, they venture into England with an essentially secular programme devoted to Henry Purcell (1659-95), varying the mood by alternating between instrumental dances and songs performed by the English countertenor Tim Mead, including ‘O Solitude’ and ‘What power art thou’. While Les Musiciens de Saint-Julien have chosen these celebrated pieces for pleasure above all, with this English programme they also fill in a new piece in their jigsaw map of the United Kingdom. At the same time, they demonstrate the musical porosity of Ireland, Scotland and England – and the atypical colors of the small string ensemble complemented by two flutes, a harp and harpsichord/lute continuo further underline the fact. The common thread, dear to Les Musiciens de Saint-Julien, is that of folk music lying at the heart of art music, in a mixture of origins, practices and repertories. We can easily recognize ‘Scotch and Irish tunes’ that Purcell incorporates in his overtures, jigs, hornpipes and chaconnes. The countertenor Tim Mead punctuates the dances with songs composed for the operatic or dramatic stage or for chamber performance.

Despite being written for the celebration of royal occasions, Purcell’s Royal Welcome Songs were penned during a time of immense disillusionment with the monarchy. Filled with humour as well as an ironic detachment from the politics of the time, Ye tuneful muses and Sound the trumpet fizz with the dramatic energy which characterized his later operas and mark a crucial turning point in Purcell’s career. This programme showcases the variety and diversity of Purcell’s writing, opening with the Chacony in G minor, which is among the great glories of music for strings, and including When on my sick bed I languish- an amazingly impassioned piece in which he bares his soul… quintessential Purcell! “It’s a delicious 72 minutes of Restoration wit and lyrical charm, performed gracefully by Harry Christophers ‘The Sixteen.’” (The Times on Purcell: The Indian Queen) “A performance like this shows dimensions of Purcell’s genius that are all too rarely heard on disc.” (Gramophone on Purcell: The Fairy Queen)

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REVIEW:

Harry Christophers and the Sixteen bring to life the composer's Welcome Songs, composed, like the birthday odes, for special, mainly royal, occasions. Christophers coaxes virtuosic performances from eight members of the Sixteen, with a fine band of period instrumentalists reveling in the glories of Purcell’s unique harmonic palette. Recommended.

– Guardian (UK)

This recording is the first by Ensemble La Fenice to feature English music of the 17th century and is dedicated, to give credit where credit is due, to Henry Purcell. It is above all an acoustic account of a number of concerts held in 2009, on the 350th anniversary of the composer's death. In response to invitations issued by the festivals Les Nuits Musicales d'Uzès, Festival de Lanvellec et du Trégor and during the course of the ensemble's first residency in Auxerre, Burgundy, the works were consequently performed in three different places with different acoustics. To incorporate the visual aspect, the TV station Mezzo made a video recording of pieces performed at the Festival de Beaune and the Festival de musique ancienne de Lyon.

Harry Christophers and The Sixteen continue their exploration of Purcell’s stunning music written for royal occasions on the second album in their new series. Charles II’s formal Restoration in 1660 marked both an end and a beginning: the end of England’s republican experiment and the beginning of a long process of monarchical reconstruction; and with a politically accident-prone king on the throne, Charles’s public relations machine could never rest. Purcell joined its small team of composer operatives just as the wave of Stuart propaganda swelled massively, and he surfed the wave with breathtaking panache, from his first court ode – the simple but rousing Welcome, Vicegerent of the mighty King – to the ambitious Fly, bold rebellion involving verse settings in up to seven parts and a six-part chorus.

PURCELL Timon of Athens: Curtain Tune; Overture; Hark! How the Songsters; Love in Their Little Veins; But Ah!; Come All to Me. Dioclesian: Dance; First Music; Chaconne; Prelude; Since from my dear; Let us dance; Butterfly Dance. King Arthur: For Love Ev’ry Creature; Hornpipe; Bouree. The Fairy Queen: Entrance of Night; One Charming Night; Hush No More; Ye Gentle Spirits of the Air; O Let Me Weep; If Love’s a Sweet Passion; Hark! The Echoing Air; Chaconne • Dorothee Mields (sop); Wolfgang Katschner, cond; Lautten Compagney Berlin • CARUS 83.435 (76:12)


I have rarely heard the Entrance of Night from The Fairy Queen sung more fetchingly, more sensitively than here by Dorothee Mields, but her consistently touching yet full-throated singing is hardly the full story of this Purcell disc. The program begins with what I am tempted to call a swinging version of the Curtain Tune from Timon of Athens. The first sound is of a twanging theorbo playing an ostinato pattern; it’s an “authentic” instrument, but the line, with its bent notes, played on an electric bass an octave lower would not sound particularly odd. Later the strings emphasize the back beat. This version adds percussion as well as a plucked bass; one dance unfolds over something like castanets, and I swear I hear bongo drums elsewhere. Nor is that all. Hark! How the Songsters begins with some discreet bird songs, as if it were by Villa-Lobos. You’ll never hear a more vigorous Hornpipe than the one from King Arthur played here.


I am afraid I am putting off the more serious early-music listeners. I don’t mean to. Much to my surprise, all of what I have just described is perfectly delightful. The band is lively, and beautifully recorded. The effects are tactful and often enlightening. Wolfgang Katschner has taste, and a taste for variety: There is nothing untoward or unexpected, for instance, in the little Prelude from Dioclesian that is played by flute, oboe, and bass. It couldn’t be lovelier. OK, I might not expect something that sounds like a tambourine in a Purcell recording, but it is slapped only a couple of times and creates a slightly more exuberant air. These are dances, after all. Perhaps I should speak more about Dorothee Mields as well. She has a powerful and also beautiful voice that conveys joy as well as pathos. It’s not at all jarring to go from a rousing hornpipe to Mields sweetly singing I Love and I Must. This is a surprising but also a perfectly delightful disc.


FANFARE: Michael Ullman

You really won’t be disappointed with these stylish, polished, engaging performances.

In the old days—that is, the 1980s and ‘90s—this is a recording that would have been done by the Baltimore Consort, with soprano Custer LaRue; but they would have left out the boring stuff, all those endlessly plodding “grounds”, or the excessively torturous (as opposed to the reasonably tortuous) six-and-one-half-minute Expostulation of the Blessed Virgin, in favor of livelier, more virtuosic, or just more light-hearted or even humorous material.

Mields is certainly a wonderful singer—indeed, this is some of the best work she’s done—and the instrumentalists are first-rate. But I don’t buy the legitimacy of the programmatic device that supposedly unifies the chosen repertoire: a “journey into the extremities of the life of the soul, caused by feelings of love.” The word “mad” pops up frequently in the liner notes, supposedly a theme that links all of the music, by Purcell and a few contemporaries—but you’ll be hard pressed to hear and feel this connection as you listen.

That’s not to say that the program isn’t composed of some fine and well-chosen songs—and Mields has admirable command of the material; yet her final, gorgeously sung Dido’s Lament lacks a true emotional connection with the character’s situation, eliminating that oft-recorded, beloved aria as a reason to own the disc. But there are plenty more reasons among the 31 tracks—and if you’re a fan of this period and place (latter 17th-century England), and of songs such as “Sing, sing Ye Druids” and “The Three Ravens”, you really won’t be disappointed with these stylish, polished, engaging performances.

-- David Vernier, ClassicsToday.com

Vox Luminis already boasts an impressive discography, orientated mainly towards sacred music and German repertoire (its album devoted to music by Heinrich Schütz won the Gramophone ‘Best Recording of the Year’ Award in 2013). Now this ensemble, founded nearly fifteen years ago by Lionel Meunier, has scaled one of the summits of English music: the legend of King Arthur and his mentor the wizard Merlin inspired one of Henry Purcell’s most popular successes, King Arthur, a semi-opera on which Purcell lavished all his exuberant musical and theatrical inventiveness. In this revelatory new reading, the Vox Luminis vocal sound always perfectly matches the mix of choruses and highly characterized vocal solos. Prior to recording, the group presented the work in many semi-staged concerts, notably in Britain, where this Franco-Belgian ensemble has enjoyed enormous success, becoming one of the most respected European ambassadors for baroque music-making.

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REVIEW:

This King Arthur is a giddy triumph for its artists. Blazing their way through the score, the performers set a new benchmark, delivering a production that’s equally gutsy and gorgeous. Dance meters swing, and grand choruses are crisp and alluring. Amorous ensembles ooze passion, with guest soprano Sophie Junker irresistible as Cupid. Director Lionel Meunier is the real star, with a soaring vision of Purcell’s music in a class of its own.

– BBC Music Magazine

Vox Luminis harvest the fruits of Purcell and Dryden’s collaborative imagination with affectionate lucidity. The band never sounds as small as it actually is. The playing has admirable finesse. The Saxons’ heathen sacrifices in Act 1 flow with unerring pacing and harmonic shaping. It has been decades since a recording of any of Purcell’s operas has been as enjoyable as this.

– Gramophone

PURCELL: Full Anthems / Music on the Death of Queen Mary

Also available on Blu-ray

Jonathan Kent’s spectacular production of Purcell’s huge semi-opera is joyous, imaginative and witty. Glyndebourne, with its intimate auditorium, provides the perfect setting for a drama which is partly spoken and partly sung. Based on an adaptation of Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream, the story is lavished with a brilliance that justifies this production’s acclaim. Paul Brown’s inventive designs, Kim Brandstrup’s exquisite choreography, an excellent cast of actors and singers and outstanding playing by the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment under William Christie combine to make a seamless theatrical experience, here recorded in High Definition and true surround sound.

Henry Purcell
THE FAIRY QUEEN

ACTORS
Titania – Sally Dexter
Oberon – Joseph Millson
Bottom – Desmond Barrit
Puck – Jotham Annan
Hermia – Susannah Wise
Demetrius – Oliver Le Sueur
Lysander – Oliver Kieran Jones

SINGERS
Juno / Mystery - Lucy Crowe
Spring / First Fairy - Claire Debono
Second Fairy - Anna Devin
Eve - Helen-Jane Howells
Night - Carolyn Sampson
Mopsa - Robert Burt
Summer - Sean Clayton
Secrecy / Adam - Ed Lyon
Autumn - Adrian Ward
Phœbus - Lukas Kargl
Drunken Poet - Desmond Barrit
Winter / Sleep / Coridon / Hymen - Andrew Foster-Williams

Glyndebourne Chorus
Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment
William Christie, conductor

Jonathan Kent, stage director

Recorded live at Glyndebourne Opera House, Lewes, East Sussex, 17 and 19 July 2009.

Bonus:
- Interview with William Christie
- Interview with Jonathan Kent

Picture format: NTSC 16:9 Anamorphic
Sound format: LPCM Stereo / DTS 5.1
Region code: 0 (worldwide)
Menu language: English
Subtitles: English, French, German, Spanish
Running time: 221 mins
No. of DVDs: 2

R E V I E W S:

The Fairy Queen is often referred to snootily as a “semi-opera” because the entertainment staged at Dorset Garden in 1692 was a mix of Purcell’s musical numbers and a bowdlerised adaptation of Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream. In fact Purcell’s audience regarded the mix of spoken drama and musical fantasy more simply as “dramatick opera”, and thought nothing odd about rehashing Shakespeare. The subtlety and richness of Shakespeare’s original text was diluted for the occasion in 1692 but that does not mean that the result is not stage-worthy in its own right. Unfortunately, most staged productions of The Fairy Queen have avoided putting Purcell’s music back into its proper quasi-Shakespearean dramatic context. While nobody in their right mind would think it preferable to stage The Magic Flute without any dialogue, ENO’s 1995 production of The Fairy Queen worked hard and unevenly to make Purcell’s music stand alone in isolation from the relevant moments in A Midsummer Night’s Dream. Simply using the charm and quality of the music as a springboard for contrived stage action tells less than half the story. The idea of reconciling the score of The Fairy Queen and its original play has for too long seemed too much like hard work for those who could not be bothered to make a serious attempt. So kudos to director Jonathan Kent and the entire production team of Glyndebourne’s fabulous 2009 reincarnation of the music and play reunited.

The reward of such courage and inquisitiveness is lovely to watch. William Christie’s direction has its cons as well as its pros; some songs (“If love’s a sweet passion”) are affected by bulgy exaggerations, tiny unnecessary tricks are employed by the OAE and chorus, and the copious use of battering percussion is irritating to those who prefer organic fare to artificial additives.

However, the production is a treat to watch: Kent has imaginatively realised the connections between the masques and the spoken drama, mixing coherently the three worlds of late-17th-century aristocratic England (Thebes), the modern day (the mechanicals preparing Pyramus and Thisbe), and the Fairy kingdom at night. The stage action is packed with good humour, affection and excellent use of colours and contrasts (although you might want to cover your childrens’ eyes at the rather saucy choreography for giant pink rabbits at the end of Act 3). The masque of the four seasons in Act 4 is a veritable feast on the eye.

Much of the credit for the charm of this production must go to the actors, especially the four confused lost lovers, the quarrelling Oberon and Titania, and, of course, Desmond Barrit’s Welsh Bottom. Of the principal singers, Lucy Crowe has stage magnetism and a terrific voice, but “Hark! the echoing air” suggests that her steely timbre is slightly less at home in 17th-century music than in Handel. Ed Lyon has the lion’s share of tenor solos; he makes heavy weather of some things but his higher-lying passages are excellent. Andrew Foster-Williams sings with gusto and appears comfortable as an extraordinary variety of characters. Carolyn Sampson steals the show in the Plaint, as the mood instantly switches from prior jollity to intense pathos; she sings “I shall never see him more” with devastating pathos but also impeccable style (plaudits also to Alison Bury’s tender violin obbligato). There are a few CD versions that I’d rather listen to for the music alone, but this DVD conveys an exceptionally spectacular event in the theatre. For a visual and dramatic feast, this reunification of play and music for The Fairy Queen is an absolute triumph.

— David Vickers, Gramophone

PURCELL: Fantazias

Note: This Blu-ray Disc is only playable on Blu-ray Disc players and not compatible with standard DVD players.

Also available on standard DVD

Jonathan Kent’s spectacular production of Purcell’s huge semi-opera is joyous, imaginative and witty. Glyndebourne, with its intimate auditorium, provides the perfect setting for a drama which is partly spoken and partly sung. Based on an adaptation of Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream, the story is lavished with a brilliance that justifies this production’s acclaim. Paul Brown’s inventive designs, Kim Brandstrup’s exquisite choreography, an excellent cast of actors and singers and outstanding playing by the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment under William Christie combine to make a seamless theatrical experience, here recorded in High Definition and true surround sound.

Henry Purcell
THE FAIRY QUEEN

ACTORS
Titania – Sally Dexter
Oberon – Joseph Millson
Bottom – Desmond Barrit
Puck – Jotham Annan
Hermia – Susannah Wise
Demetrius – Oliver Le Sueur
Lysander – Oliver Kieran Jones

SINGERS
Juno / Mystery - Lucy Crowe
Spring / First Fairy - Claire Debono
Second Fairy - Anna Devin
Eve - Helen-Jane Howells
Night - Carolyn Sampson
Mopsa - Robert Burt
Summer - Sean Clayton
Secrecy / Adam - Ed Lyon
Autumn - Adrian Ward
Phœbus - Lukas Kargl
Drunken Poet - Desmond Barrit
Winter / Sleep / Coridon / Hymen - Andrew Foster-Williams

Glyndebourne Chorus
Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment
William Christie, conductor

Jonathan Kent, stage director

Recorded live at Glyndebourne Opera House, Lewes, East Sussex, 17 and 19 July 2009.

Bonus:
- Interview with William Christie
- Interview with Jonathan Kent

Picture format: 1080i High Definition
Sound format: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1
Region code: 0 (worldwide)
Menu language: English
Subtitles: English, French, German, Spanish
Running time: 221 mins
No. of Discs: 1 (BD 50) R E V I E W:

The Fairy Queen is often referred to snootily as a “semi-opera” because the entertainment staged at Dorset Garden in 1692 was a mix of Purcell’s musical numbers and a bowdlerised adaptation of Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream. In fact Purcell’s audience regarded the mix of spoken drama and musical fantasy more simply as “dramatick opera”, and thought nothing odd about rehashing Shakespeare. The subtlety and richness of Shakespeare’s original text was diluted for the occasion in 1692 but that does not mean that the result is not stage-worthy in its own right. Unfortunately, most staged productions of The Fairy Queen have avoided putting Purcell’s music back into its proper quasi-Shakespearean dramatic context. While nobody in their right mind would think it preferable to stage The Magic Flute without any dialogue, ENO’s 1995 production of The Fairy Queen worked hard and unevenly to make Purcell’s music stand alone in isolation from the relevant moments in A Midsummer Night’s Dream. Simply using the charm and quality of the music as a springboard for contrived stage action tells less than half the story. The idea of reconciling the score of The Fairy Queen and its original play has for too long seemed too much like hard work for those who could not be bothered to make a serious attempt. So kudos to director Jonathan Kent and the entire production team of Glyndebourne’s fabulous 2009 reincarnation of the music and play reunited.

The reward of such courage and inquisitiveness is lovely to watch. William Christie’s direction has its cons as well as its pros; some songs (“If love’s a sweet passion”) are affected by bulgy exaggerations, tiny unnecessary tricks are employed by the OAE and chorus, and the copious use of battering percussion is irritating to those who prefer organic fare to artificial additives.

However, the production is a treat to watch: Kent has imaginatively realised the connections between the masques and the spoken drama, mixing coherently the three worlds of late-17th-century aristocratic England (Thebes), the modern day (the mechanicals preparing Pyramus and Thisbe), and the Fairy kingdom at night. The stage action is packed with good humour, affection and excellent use of colours and contrasts (although you might want to cover your childrens’ eyes at the rather saucy choreography for giant pink rabbits at the end of Act 3). The masque of the four seasons in Act 4 is a veritable feast on the eye.

Much of the credit for the charm of this production must go to the actors, especially the four confused lost lovers, the quarrelling Oberon and Titania, and, of course, Desmond Barrit’s Welsh Bottom. Of the principal singers, Lucy Crowe has stage magnetism and a terrific voice, but “Hark! the echoing air” suggests that her steely timbre is slightly less at home in 17th-century music than in Handel. Ed Lyon has the lion’s share of tenor solos; he makes heavy weather of some things but his higher-lying passages are excellent. Andrew Foster-Williams sings with gusto and appears comfortable as an extraordinary variety of characters. Carolyn Sampson steals the show in the Plaint, as the mood instantly switches from prior jollity to intense pathos; she sings “I shall never see him more” with devastating pathos but also impeccable style (plaudits also to Alison Bury’s tender violin obbligato). There are a few CD versions that I’d rather listen to for the music alone, but this DVD conveys an exceptionally spectacular event in the theatre. For a visual and dramatic feast, this reunification of play and music for The Fairy Queen is an absolute triumph.

— David Vickers, Gramophone Reviewing DVD version

Purcell: Fairy Queen (The)