The Fairy Queen is one of Henry Purcell's most popular
operas. Full of memorable orchestral music and arias, this work, based
on Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream, is very accessible and a
real pleasure to listen to again and again. The opera's music has a
wide variety of orchestrations, showing Purcell's talent in many registers.
This recording, made in 1993 following a performance of the work as
part of the London Purcell Experience festival, is a brilliant set,
with excellent soloists and true energy from all the musicians involved.
What a wonderful sound this orchestra presents - refined
and crisp, with no excesses or shortcomings. Norrington has succeeded
in presenting this work with a level of clarity and grace that is exemplary.
Energetic at times, intense at others (See, even night herself is here,
sung by Susan Bickley, is a model of dramatic intensity and subtle colours),
the score comes to life with light and shadows, and with near-perfect
sound. The instruments all come through with real clarity, there is
no excess of reverberation; this could be considered a near perfect
recording.
Norrington uses a historically-informed approach, keeping
the forces at a restrained level (23 chorists, 25 instrumentalists),
using original instruments. Mark Padmore shines, both sopranos, Susan
Bickley and Catherine Pierard, are brilliant, and whenever the soloists
sing together in duos or trios the results are wonderful. There is a
certain playfulness in Lorraine Hunt’s singing of Ye Gentle Spirits
of the Air which is quite compelling, both in her singing and in the
vibrant accompaniment.
I was disappointed by Catherine Pierard’s singing of
If Love’s a Sweet Passion, one of my all-time favourite songs; it is
rushed a bit, and the choir is too present. (I have a weakness for the
version of this song by Yvonne Kenny, on a DVD of the English National
Opera’s performance of this work. In spite of the grittiness of the
sound, it being a live performance, the song is built up, through reprises
and duets among the various characters, to about 7 minutes, with an
increasing amount of emotion that brings tears to my eyes and makes
me want to turn off the DVD after it and just sit in silence.)
But all things considered, this is one of the finest
recordings of the Fairy Queen that you will find. Perhaps a bit short
on emotion, it certainly reaches technical summits. Re-released at budget-price,
this is worth every penny of its cost. Such wonderful orchestral execution
and brilliant singers are hard to find; the two of them together are
a treat.
Kirk McElhearn
Lorraine Hunt soprano