Purcell The Prophetess; The Fairy Queen
View record and artist detailsRecord and Artist Details
Composer or Director: Henry Purcell
Label: Fontalis
Magazine Review Date: 8/1997
Media Format: CD or Download
Media Runtime: 64
Catalogue Number: ES8583
Tracks:
| Composition | Artist Credit |
|---|---|
| (The History of) Dioclesian, or The Prophetess, Movement: First Musick |
Henry Purcell, Composer
(Le) Concert des Nations Henry Purcell, Composer Jordi Savall, Conductor |
| (The History of) Dioclesian, or The Prophetess, Movement: Second Musick |
Henry Purcell, Composer
(Le) Concert des Nations Henry Purcell, Composer Jordi Savall, Conductor |
| (The History of) Dioclesian, or The Prophetess, Movement: Symphony (trumpets and violins) |
Henry Purcell, Composer
(Le) Concert des Nations Henry Purcell, Composer Jordi Savall, Conductor |
| (The History of) Dioclesian, or The Prophetess, Movement: ~ |
Henry Purcell, Composer
(Le) Concert des Nations Henry Purcell, Composer Jordi Savall, Conductor |
| (The History of) Dioclesian, or The Prophetess, Movement: Dance of Furies |
Henry Purcell, Composer
(Le) Concert des Nations Henry Purcell, Composer Jordi Savall, Conductor |
| (The History of) Dioclesian, or The Prophetess, Movement: The Chair Dance |
Henry Purcell, Composer
(Le) Concert des Nations Henry Purcell, Composer Jordi Savall, Conductor |
| (The) Fairy Queen, Movement: Dance of the Haymakers |
Henry Purcell, Composer
(Le) Concert des Nations Henry Purcell, Composer Jordi Savall, Conductor |
| (The) Fairy Queen, Movement: Third Act Tune: Hornpipe |
Henry Purcell, Composer
(Le) Concert des Nations Henry Purcell, Composer Jordi Savall, Conductor |
| (The) Fairy Queen, Movement: Symphony |
Henry Purcell, Composer
(Le) Concert des Nations Henry Purcell, Composer Jordi Savall, Conductor |
| (The) Fairy Queen, Movement: Entry of Phoebus |
Henry Purcell, Composer
(Le) Concert des Nations Henry Purcell, Composer Jordi Savall, Conductor |
| (The) Fairy Queen, Movement: Fourth Act Tune: Air |
Henry Purcell, Composer
(Le) Concert des Nations Henry Purcell, Composer Jordi Savall, Conductor |
| (The) Fairy Queen, Movement: Entry Dance |
Henry Purcell, Composer
(Le) Concert des Nations Henry Purcell, Composer Jordi Savall, Conductor |
| (The) Fairy Queen, Movement: Monkeys' Dance |
Henry Purcell, Composer
(Le) Concert des Nations Henry Purcell, Composer Jordi Savall, Conductor |
| (The) Fairy Queen, Movement: Chaconne: Dance of the Chinese Man and Woman |
Henry Purcell, Composer
(Le) Concert des Nations Henry Purcell, Composer Jordi Savall, Conductor |
| (The) Fairy Queen, Movement: They shall be as happy (chorus) |
Henry Purcell, Composer
(Le) Concert des Nations Henry Purcell, Composer Jordi Savall, Conductor |
| (The) Fairy Queen, Movement: First Musick: |
Henry Purcell, Composer
(Le) Concert des Nations Henry Purcell, Composer Jordi Savall, Conductor |
| (The) Fairy Queen, Movement: Second Musick: |
Henry Purcell, Composer
(Le) Concert des Nations Henry Purcell, Composer Jordi Savall, Conductor |
| (The) Fairy Queen, Movement: First Act Tune: Jig |
Henry Purcell, Composer
(Le) Concert des Nations Henry Purcell, Composer Jordi Savall, Conductor |
| (The) Fairy Queen, Movement: ~ |
Henry Purcell, Composer
(Le) Concert des Nations Henry Purcell, Composer Jordi Savall, Conductor |
| (The) Fairy Queen, Movement: Dance of the followers of Night |
Henry Purcell, Composer
(Le) Concert des Nations Henry Purcell, Composer Jordi Savall, Conductor |
| (The) Fairy Queen, Movement: Second Act Tune: Air |
Henry Purcell, Composer
(Le) Concert des Nations Henry Purcell, Composer Jordi Savall, Conductor |
| (The) Fairy Queen, Movement: Symphony while the swans come forward |
Henry Purcell, Composer
(Le) Concert des Nations Henry Purcell, Composer Jordi Savall, Conductor |
| (The) Fairy Queen, Movement: Dance of the Fairies |
Henry Purcell, Composer
(Le) Concert des Nations Henry Purcell, Composer Jordi Savall, Conductor |
| (The) Fairy Queen, Movement: Dance of the Green Men |
Henry Purcell, Composer
(Le) Concert des Nations Henry Purcell, Composer Jordi Savall, Conductor |
Author: Jonathan Freeman-Attwood
Purcell’s death in 1695 galvanized many would-be editors into feverish action. Publications of songs, sonatas and solo keyboard music appeared soon after, though A Collection of Ayres, Compos’d for the Theatre, and upon other Occasions (the tercentenary of whose publication we celebrate in 1997) stands out as an especially poignant memorial through the composer’s most celebrated oeuvre. Ayres for the Theatre contains 13 suites of Purcell’s instrumental movements arranged, sensitively for the most part, into everyday concert fare; this richly endowed repertoire was thereby wrenched from elite theatrical circles and thrust into the public domain by an enterprising editor.
Savall extends the principle of drawing freely from a repository of material for concert use; these suites are very much of his own making. Unlike Lamon and Goodman – and to a certain extent Hengelbrock – Savall draws his inspiration from the original scores and not just from Ayres for the Theatre. The seven short movements from Dioclesian are nobly conceived, the “Dance of the Furies” typical of Savall’s long-breathed lines and dark, bass-heavy string palette. Whether such a purposeful and imposing dramatic profile distorts the sweet airiness of Purcell’s vernacular is more a matter of taste than anything. Savall is never less than colourful and there is much to be said for his admirable musical instinct, which brings moments of glorious shapeliness and elasticity in the substantial Fairy Queen suite.
This is music that can impress with just a safe hand on the tiller: here we have some idiosyncratic characterization but, as so often with Savall, his eloquence shines through despite lurking peccadilloes. The playing from Le Concert des Nations is affectionate, though pretty rough-hewn in places. If the disc is not a ‘must’, there is no clockwork baroque about Savall, in his effortless antidote to phlegmatic ordinariness.'
Savall extends the principle of drawing freely from a repository of material for concert use; these suites are very much of his own making. Unlike Lamon and Goodman – and to a certain extent Hengelbrock – Savall draws his inspiration from the original scores and not just from Ayres for the Theatre. The seven short movements from Dioclesian are nobly conceived, the “Dance of the Furies” typical of Savall’s long-breathed lines and dark, bass-heavy string palette. Whether such a purposeful and imposing dramatic profile distorts the sweet airiness of Purcell’s vernacular is more a matter of taste than anything. Savall is never less than colourful and there is much to be said for his admirable musical instinct, which brings moments of glorious shapeliness and elasticity in the substantial Fairy Queen suite.
This is music that can impress with just a safe hand on the tiller: here we have some idiosyncratic characterization but, as so often with Savall, his eloquence shines through despite lurking peccadilloes. The playing from Le Concert des Nations is affectionate, though pretty rough-hewn in places. If the disc is not a ‘must’, there is no clockwork baroque about Savall, in his effortless antidote to phlegmatic ordinariness.'
Purcell The Prophetess; The Fairy Queen
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