Purcell Arthur

John Eliot Gardiner contributed like no one else to Purcell’s rediscovery, leaving an impressive collection of reference recordings of his masques, operas and odes. This release features the most beautiful instrumental airs and dances, from King Arthur to the Indian Queen.

Vox Luminis already boasts an impressive discography, orientated mainly towards sacred music and German repertoire (its CD devoted to music by Heinrich Schütz won the Gramophone ‘Best Recording of the Year’ Award in 2013). Now this ensemble, founded nearly fifteen years ago by Lionel Meunier, has scaled one of the summits of English music: the legend of King Arthur and his mentor the wizard Merlin inspired one of Henry Purcell’s most popular successes, King Arthur, a semi-opera on which Purcell lavished all his exuberant musical and theatrical inventiveness.

The year 1979 saw the death of one of the leading players in the ‘Baroque’ revolution, undoubtedly the most famous countertenor of the twentieth century. Alfred Deller had even achieved the supreme tour de force of convincing us that, three centuries earlier, Purcell had composed his songs for him! With him the public of the 1960s and 1970s discovered not only an absolutely inimitable timbre, but also the delights of a repertory that had been slumbering in libraries until then. Forty years after his death, thanks to the meticulous process of remastering harmonia mundi has carried out on the original tapes, Alfred Deller’s art seems more alive than ever!

In the year of Queen Elizabeth II’s Diamond Jubilee, Alison Balsom celebrates the heroic era of the Baroque trumpet in works by George Frideric Handel (1685-1759) and Henry Purcell (1658 or 1659-1695), whose anthems, odes, sinfonias and operas have provided the music for numerous royal celebrations from their own day to the present.

Until the late 1680s, Henry Purcell composed almost exclusively for the royal court. But when the monarchy decided to reduce its expenditure on music in 1690, he joined the United Company, a London theatre company, and devoted himself to composing for its productions. These took varied forms, with operas such as King Arthur (1691), The Fairy Queen (1692) and The Indian Queen (1695) but also spoken plays with music, such as The Virtuous Wife (1695).Some excerpts from these works are presented in "Tyrannic Love". Compositions by Purcell’s colleagues or followers John Blow, John Eccles, Jeremiah Clarke and Daniel Purcell complete the programme. This recording marks the beginning of the collaboration between Alpha and the ensemble Les Surprises, founded in 2010, which takes its name from Les Surprises de l’Amour by Rameau, the group’s emblematic composer. Under the artistic direction of Louis-Noël Bestion de Camboulas, who is also an organist and harpsichordist, the ensemble presents innovative interpretations and explores the rich orchestral sonorities made possible by the use of Baroque instruments.

Until the late 1680s, Henry Purcell composed almost exclusively for the royal court. But when the monarchy decided to reduce its expenditure on music in 1690, he joined the United Company, a London theatre company, and devoted himself to composing for its productions.

Gerade mal 36 Jahre alt wurde Henry Purcell, doch in diesem kurzen Leben erwies er sich als enorm produktiv. 860 Kompositionen führt das vom amerikanischen Musikwissenschaftler Frank B. Zimmerman angelegte Purcell-Verzeichnis. Neben Kammer- und Kirchenmusik sowie immerhin 60 Fest- und Prunk-Musiken komponierte Purcell vor allem für die Bühne. Mit Dido and Aeneas entstand seine einzige klassische Oper. Auf dem Gebiet der von ihm geprägten Form der Semi-Opera , in der Schauspiel und Musik miteinander verknüpft wurden, hinterließ er hingegen Meisterwerke wie King Arthur und The Fairy Queen .