Les Nouveaux Caractères & Sébastien d'Hérin - Purcell: The Fairy Queen, Z. 629 (2017) [Hi-Res]

Tracklist
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CD1
01. The Fairy Queen, Z. 629: Prelude
02. The Fairy Queen, Z. 629: Hornpipe
03. The Fairy Queen, Z. 629: Air
04. The Fairy Queen, Z. 629: Rondeau
05. The Fairy Queen, Z. 629: Overture
06. The Fairy Queen, Z. 629, Act I "The Palace of the Duke": Prelude-Come, Come, Come Let Us Leave This Town
07. The Fairy Queen, Z. 629, Act I "The Palace of the Duke": Fill up the Bowl, Then...
08. The Fairy Queen, Z. 629, Act I "The Palace of the Duke": Jig
09. The Fairy Queen, Z. 629, Act II "The Great Grotto": Prelude
10. The Fairy Queen, Z. 629, Act II "The Great Grotto": Come All Ye Songsters of the Sky
11. The Fairy Queen, Z. 629, Act II "The Great Grotto": Prelude. Birds Fly Down, Singing
12. The Fairy Queen, Z. 629, Act II "The Great Grotto": Trio. May the God of Wit Inspire
13. The Fairy Queen, Z. 629, Act II "The Great Grotto": Now Join Your Warbling Voices All
14. The Fairy Queen, Z. 629, Act II "The Great Grotto": Sing While We Trip It upon the Green
15. The Fairy Queen, Z. 629, Act II "The Great Grotto": See, Even Night Herself Is Here
16. The Fairy Queen, Z. 629, Act II "The Great Grotto": I Am Come to Lock All Fast
17. The Fairy Queen, Z. 629, Act II "The Great Grotto": One Charming Night
18. The Fairy Queen, Z. 629, Act II "The Great Grotto": Hush, No More, Be Silent All
19. The Fairy Queen, Z. 629, Act II "The Great Grotto": Dance for the Followers of Night
20. The Fairy Queen, Z. 629, Act II "The Great Grotto": Air
21. The Fairy Queen, Z. 629, Act III "A Forest Glade": Prelude-If Love's a Sweet Passion
22. The Fairy Queen, Z. 629, Act III "A Forest Glade": Överture. Symphony While the Swans Come Forward
23. The Fairy Queen, Z. 629, Act III "A Forest Glade": Dance for the Fairies
24. The Fairy Queen, Z. 629, Act III "A Forest Glade": Ye Gentle Spirits of the Air, Appear!
25. The Fairy Queen, Z. 629, Act III "A Forest Glade": Now the Maids and the Men Are Making of Hay
26. The Fairy Queen, Z. 629, Act III "A Forest Glade": Dance for the Haymakers
27. The Fairy Queen, Z. 629, Act III "A Forest Glade": When I Have Often Heard Young Maids Complaining
28. The Fairy Queen, Z. 629, Act III "A Forest Glade": A Thousand, Thousand Ways We'll Find
29. The Fairy Queen, Z. 629, Act III "A Forest Glade": Hornpipe

CD2
01. The Fairy Queen, Z. 629, Act IV "A Garden of Fountains": Symphony
02. The Fairy Queen, Z. 629, Act IV "A Garden of Fountains": Now the Night Is Chased Away
03. The Fairy Queen, Z. 629, Act IV "A Garden of Fountains": Let the Fifes and the Clarions and Shrill Trumpets Sound
04. The Fairy Queen, Z. 629, Act IV "A Garden of Fountains": Entry of Phoebus
05. The Fairy Queen, Z. 629, Act IV "A Garden of Fountains": Prelude-When a Cruel Long Winter Has Frozen the Earth
06. The Fairy Queen, Z. 629, Act IV "A Garden of Fountains": Hail! Great Parent of Us All
07. The Fairy Queen, Z. 629, Act IV "A Garden of Fountains": Thus the Ever Grateful Spring
08. The Fairy Queen, Z. 629, Act IV "A Garden of Fountains": Here's the Summer, Sprightly, Gay
09. The Fairy Queen, Z. 629, Act IV "A Garden of Fountains": See My Many Coloured Fields
10. The Fairy Queen, Z. 629, Act IV "A Garden of Fountains": Next, Winter Comes Slowly
11. The Fairy Queen, Z. 629, Act IV "A Garden of Fountains": Air
12. The Fairy Queen, Z. 629, Act V "In a Chinese Garden": Prelude to Juno’s Song-Thrice Happy Lovers
13. The Fairy Queen, Z. 629, Act V "In a Chinese Garden": O Let Me Ever, Ever Weep
14. The Fairy Queen, Z. 629, Act V "In a Chinese Garden": Entry Dance
15. The Fairy Queen, Z. 629, Act V "In a Chinese Garden": Symphony
16. The Fairy Queen, Z. 629, Act V "In a Chinese Garden": Thus the Gloomy World
17. The Fairy Queen, Z. 629, Act V "In a Chinese Garden": Thus Happy and Free
18. The Fairy Queen, Z. 629, Act V "In a Chinese Garden": Yes, Xansi, in Your Looks I Find
19. The Fairy Queen, Z. 629, Act V "In a Chinese Garden": Monkey's Dance
20. The Fairy Queen, Z. 629, Act V "In a Chinese Garden": Prelude-Hark! How All Things with One Sound Rejoice
21. The Fairy Queen, Z. 629, Act V "In a Chinese Garden": Hark Now the Echoing Air a Triumph Sings
22. The Fairy Queen, Z. 629, Act V "In a Chinese Garden": Sure the Dull God of Marriage Does Not Hear
23. The Fairy Queen, Z. 629, Act V "In a Chinese Garden": Prelude-See, See, I Obey
24. The Fairy Queen, Z. 629, Act V "In a Chinese Garden": They Shall Be as Happy as They're Fair
25. The Fairy Queen, Z. 629, Act V "In a Chinese Garden": Chaconne. Dance for the Chinese Man and Woman

With The Fairy Queen, Sébastien d’Hérin and Les Nouveaux Caractères set down on record their musical vision of one of Henry Purcell’s most compelling dramatic works. The 1692/1693 work dates from around half a century before two other Baroque scores which Les Nouveaux Caractères has tackled recently and received significant critical approval: Leclair’s Scylla et Glaucus and Rameau’s Les Surprises de l’Amour (the latter, like The Fairy Queen, appearing on Glossa).

Being a semi-opera, the music of The Fairy Queen doesn’t need to follow a narrative methodically from start to finish and, indeed, what we get is essentially a series of self- contained masques. Purcell channels the spirit of William Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream rather than using the text of that comedy; many characters appear across the work but yet Purcell’s music is of great coherence. Not unlike Purcell himself, Sébastien d’Hérin has opted not to use a formal chorus but to have a long- established team of musical partners singing the choral parts as well as the solo roles. Among the modern-day singers are to be found Anders Dahlin, Samuel Boden, Caitlin Hulcup (who sings “An Epithalamium”), Virginie Pochon, Guillaume Andrieux, Hjördis Thébault and Caroline Mutel (to whom is entrusted “The Plaint”). Alongside the typical instruments of the string, wind and continuo departments of d’Hérin’s orchestra are to be found a serpent, a cornett and a regal.

In the booklet essay, the conductor himself explains how this new production of The Fairy Queen has taken shape over a period of ten years.

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