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Purcell's five-act semi-opera "The Fairy Queen", composed as a series of masques to be performed between the acts of Shakespeare's "A Midsummer Night's Dream", consists of music of extraordinary grace, brilliance, variety, and above all - as befits its original context - enchantment. And it's this last quality that has proved the most elusive to various otherwise excellent recorded performances over the years. There have been a number of well-regarded recordings, including those under Norrington, Christie, Harnoncourt, Gardiner and Christophers. This present set, recorded live at the Ravenna Festival in 2001, is performed by the Italian early-music ensemble Accademia Bizantina directed by Ottavio Dantone. However, the vocal soloists and chorus are all British - the point being well made on the cover by means of the ad hoc name New English Voices - so, for those who insist on their Purcell sounding as English as can be, rest assured that you won't be hearing Italian accents pronouncing "O letta me ever weep", or anything like that. (Stephen Midgley)
Semi-opera in 5 atti
Carolyn Sampson, soprano
Andrew Carwood, tenore
Michael Bundy, basso
New English Voices
dir.
Michael McCarthy
Accademia Bizantina
dir.
Ottavio Dantone
