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Purcell: Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment/Margaret Faultless, Choir of the Enlightenment, King’s Place, London, 15.5 2009 (J-PJ)

Purcell: Music for the play Bonduca

One of the great advantages of the anniversaries in 2009 of the births and deaths of Purcell, Handel, Haydn and Mendelssohn has been the opportunity to reassess familiar works, and to discover new ones that have lain neglected for so long. The Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment seized this opportunity to resurrect one of Purcell’s less familiar theatrical works: Bonduca.

Composed in 1695 shortly before Purcell’s death, the music was written to accompany a version of John Fletcher’s Bonduca – a tragedy based on the trials and tribulations of the legendary British queen and Roman basher Boadicea. The piece is scored for relatively small but varied forces, including a trumpet, oboes and recorders doubling the string parts, and a four-part chorus. The musical numbers were filled out during the concert with dramatic excerpts from the play performed by actors performing the roles of Bonduca herself, the Roman general Suetonius and, anachronistically, fellow British rebel Caratach – more familiar to us as Caractacus.

The OAE - and in particular first violinist Roy Mowatt, who presented an entertaining pre-concert talk - should be saluted for reviving this forgotten work and placing it within its dramatic context. However, the main problem with the concert was that the music itself was just not that great. Purcell’s score was written quickly, and some of it was taken from earlier material. There was little to distinguish one number from the next, and several of these numbers were so brief as to leave the listener feeling a little short-changed.

The exceptions were the splendid overture, with its ringing trumpet part, expertly played by David Blackadder. The chorus of Britons imploring their gods for help (‘Hear us great Ruguith’) also worked well because of its ‘operatic’ feel. Indeed, there are occasional shades of Dido and Aeneas in this work, including a final lament by Bonvica, Bonduca’s daughter (‘Lead me to some peaceful gloom’). But these highlights, the OAE’s tightly controlled playing, and some fine singing by the chorus were not really enough to lift this work above its status as an interesting but rather forgettable curiosity.

John-Pierre Joyce

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