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See Terms & Conditions for p&p rates. | |  | Purcell: King Arthur
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| |  | Purcell: King Arthur, Z628
Elsie Morison (soprano), Trevor Anthony (bass), Hervey Alan (bass), Mary Thomas (soprano), Wilfred Brown (tenor), David Galliver (tenor), John Whitworth (counter-tenor), John Cameron (baritone), Heather Harper (soprano) London Philomusica, St. Anthony Singers, Anthony Lewis | 
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| |  | Purcell: King Arthur, Z628
Ana Maria Labin, Chantal Santon-Jeffery (sopranos), Mélodie Ruvio (mezzo-soprano), Mathias Vidal (countertenor), Marc Mauillon (tenor), Joao Fernandes (bass) & Joao Fernandes (bass, King Arthur) Le Concert Spirituel, Hervé Niquet Adaptation, conception & stage direction: Corinne & Gilles Benizio (alias Shirley & Dino) And now for something completely different ... For its first DVD release Glossa has chosen a veritable spectacular, combining the strong creative ideas represented by one of its established artistic teams in Hervé Niquet and Le Concert Spirituel, the hugely successful French comedy duo of Shirley and Dino (Corinne and Gilles Benizio in real life), a film director in Olivier Simonnet with proven experience in the music of the Baroque and a masterpiece of a dramatic operatic score in Henry Purcell's King Arthur. The production got firmly into gear after Hervé Niquet had parked himself in front of the motorbike of Gilles Benizio, just as the comedian was about to speed off at the end of a 'Shirley et Dino' show, and had requested that the Benizios should become the stage directors for King Arthur in Montpellier. Soon, apparently the music and stage directors found that they held shared tastes in humour, even unto the nonsensical and surrealist elements of Monty Python and its Flying Circus. The new plot with its series of individual scenes even now allows for the role of King Arthur himself (assumed here by João Fernandes) as well as the comic sketches starring Shirley et Dino and other members of the cast - even the musical director gets his turn on the stage, rather than in the pit. The production was staged and recorded last year at the Opéra de Montpellier in France where Le Concert Spirituel has been in residence since 2006. “Early music conductor Hervé Niquet and his musically ultra chic Concert Spirituel were drawn into the fray, hapless, helpless and superfluous as orchestras so often are in operatic organization, with conductor Niquet taking full advantage of the rare opportunity to take himself center stage, making himself the star of the show as best he could - holding forth with vaudeville songs and schtick. The venerable maestro was upstaged only by Dino's mute rendition of the famed French chanson "Mexico," and Shirley and Dino's skiing across the stage uttering nonsensical German sounding sounds.” Musicweb on the Montpellier production. Format: NTSC colour, 16:9 Sound: PCM stereo, DTS 5.0 Subtitles: French, English, German, Spanish Rec. 2009, Runtime: 1:52 “Directed by French comedy duo Corinne and Gilles Benizio… conductor Hervé Niquet's knockabout rewrite of King Arthur is as much a tribute to Monty Python as it is to Henry Purcell. Purists beware. In the bonus feature, Montpellier's artistic director admits that his first reaction was 'Poor Purcell!' But the laughter of the audience is the best review and it is hard to imagine that England's wittiest composer would have disapproved.” BBC Music Magazine, February 2010 **** | | | Usually despatched in 3 - 4 working days. |
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| |  | Purcell: King Arthur, Z628
Not strictly speaking an opera, King Arthur, or The British Worthy is a ‘semi-opera’. Semi-operas were dramas in four or five acts, with lengthy musical sections. The main characters only speak, and the musical narrative is the preserve of the minor characters – nymphs and such like. John Dryden, who provided Purcell with the libretto in 1691, commented that ‘Purcell was the equal to the best (composer) abroad’, and that in King Arthur ‘my art on this occasion, ought to be subservient to his’. The story depicts the battles that the Britons, lead by Arthur, fight and win against the Saxons and their leader Oswald. Urged on by the evil spirit Grimbauld, the Saxons resort to ever more cunning tactics. Arthur magnanimously forgives the Saxons upon his victory, and the work ends with a patriotic masque praising Britain, her people, values and nature. Purcell provided a vivid score, with some of his finest music, and the ‘Frost’ scene in Act 3 foreshadows Vivaldi in many ways. It also provides the inspiration for Michael Nyman’s music for the Peter Greenway film The Draughtsman’s Contract set in the 17th century. ‘He (Pinnock) has an orchestra of glittering skill, often used with considerable delicacy … sounding wonderfully persuasive on plucked instruments … His soloists are also good, all of them sometimes exceptionally so.’ Gramophone | | | Usually despatched in 4 - 5 working days. |
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| |  | Purcell: King Arthur, Z628
Salzburg Festival production | | | Usually despatched in 2 - 3 working days. |
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| |  | Purcell: King Arthur, Z628Dramatic opera in 5 acts
“…none of the spoken dialogue is included in this new recording of Purcell's music - brought to life with energy and a pleasing element of bucolic high spirits by Hervé Niquet's singers and instrumentalists. The soprano voice of Hanna Bayodi is especially alluring...” BBC Music Magazine, September 2004 **** | | | (also available to download from $10.50) | Usually despatched in 3 - 4 working days. (Available now to download.) |
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| |  | Jon Vickers in Concert (New York, 1967)
Dvorak: | My song resounds, my song (from Gypsy Melodies, Op. 55 (B104)) Yon lies the moon, so far (from Gypsy Melodies, Op. 55 (B104)) Dark in flowing linen (from Gypsy Melodies, Op. 55 (B104)) Soaring ever upward (from Gypsy Melodies, Op. 55 (B104)) | Handel: | Messiah: Thy Rebuke Hath Broken His Heart...Behold And See Messiah: He Was Cut Off Out of the Land...But Thou Didst Not Leave His Soul in Hell | Purcell: | Man is for the woman made (from The Mock Marriage, Z605) The History of King Richard the Second or The Sicilian Usurper: Retir'd from any mortal's sight, Z581 There's not a swain (from Rule a Wife and Have a Wife, Z587) King Arthur, Z628 | Scarlatti, A: | Toglietemi la vita ancor (from Il Pompeo) La speranza que lusinga O dolcissima speranza Difesa non ha Cara e dolce | Schumann: | Dichterliebe, Op. 48 |
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| |  | Purcell - Complete Ayres for the Theatre
Purcell: | Prophetess or The History of Dioclesian, Z627 King Arthur, Z628 The Fairy Queen, Z629 The Indian Queen, Z630 The Married Beau or The Curious Impertinent - incidental music, Z603 The Old Batchelor - incidental music, Z607 Amphitryon or The Two Sosias: incidental music, Z572 The Double Dealer - incidental music, Z592 Distressed Innocence or The Princess of Persia: incidental music, Z577 The Gordion Knot Untied - incidental music, Z597 Abdelazer or The Moor's Revenge: incidental music, Z570 Bonduca or The British Heroine - incidental music, Z574 The Virtuous Wife or Good Luck At Last - incidental music, Z611 Sonata while the sun rises in 'The Fairy Queen', Z629/27 Overture in G minor, Z626/1 Sir Anthony Love or, The Rambling Lady, Z588/1: Overture Music in Timon of Athens, the Man-Hater, Z632/1 Symphony in The Indian Queen, Z630/16 |
“All these works were published within 18 months of Purcell's death. The 13 suites of choice movements from plays and semi-operas, entitled A Collection of Ayres, compos'd for theTheatre, and upon other occasions, may well have been the editing work of Purcell's brother, Daniel.
Whoever it was had a rare combination of musical integrity and commercial flair: the pieces lifted from Purcell's interpolations to plays are often reordered and arranged with a deftness and charm which conveys the spirit of the theatre as well as heightening the loss and poignancy of Purcell's passing. How moving the Rondeau Minuet from The Gordian KnotUnty'd must have seemed to those who knew and loved Purcell.
As a major retrospective of Purcell's life in the theatre, the Ayres for the Theatre mainly comprise instrumental dances from their original sources, though there are several movements readapted from sung airs, such as 'Fairest isle' from King Arthur and 'If love's a sweet passion' from The Fairy Queen. The tunes are wonderful and varied, the inner part-writing skilful and the rhythmic imagination knows no bounds.
Even so, this isn't music where more than a suite at a time can be recommended for ultimate satisfaction: stop while you still want more. And more you'll most certainly want with Roy Goodman's alert and distinctive direction. If a few of the movements sound a touch mundane and lack dynamism as one follows on from another, the positive side is that the performances are never forced and rarely mannered. For the semi-opera 'suites', Goodman employs a full orchestra. What The Parley of Instruments has in abundance is a cordiality of expression which seems so absolutely right, especially in the slower airs.” Gramophone Classical Music Guide, 2010 “Ayres for the Theatre is a wonderful collection of rich and varied, tuneful music and has been marvellously well recorded” Gramophone Magazine “The performances by Goodman and the authentic Parley of Instruments are thoroughly alive, stylish and responsive to the composer's ready invention. The recording is in every way pleasing, clear, yet full-bodied.” Penguin Guide, 2011 edition | | | In stock - usually despatched within 1 working day. |
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| |  | Purcell Edition, Vol. 1 - Theatre Music
Purcell: | Dido and Aeneas Véronique Gens (Dido), Nathan Berg (Aeneas), Sophie Marin-Degor (Belinda), Claire Brua (Sorceress), Sophie Daneman (Second Woman/First Witch), Gaëlle Méchaly (Second Witch), Jean-Paul Fouchécourt (Spirit/Sailor) Les Arts Florissants King Arthur, Z628 Véronique Gens, Claron McFadden, Sandrine Piau, Susannah Waters (sopranos), Iain Paton, Mark Padmore (tenors), Petteri Salomaa, Jonathan Best & François Bazola-Minori (basses) Les Arts Florissants, William Christie The Fairy Queen, Z629 Barbara Bonney, Sylvia McNair (sopranos), Elisabeth von Magnus (mezzo), Michael Chance (countertenor), Laurence Dale (tenor), Robert Holl & Anthony Michaels-Moore (basses) Concentus musicus Wien & Arnold Schoenberg Chor, Nikolaus Harnoncourt |
First volume in the Purcell Edition series “What sets this above other period performances is the tragic depth conveyed by Véronique Gens in Dido's great lament ... Nathan Berg, dark and heroic of tone, is superb as Aeneas.” Penguin Guide (on Dido and Aeneas) “The vigour of Purcell's inspiration in this semi-opera has never been more winningly conveyed” Penguin Guide (on King Arthur) | | | In stock - usually despatched within 1 working day. |
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| |  | Purcell: Dido & Aeneas, King Arthur
Purcell: | Dido and Aeneas Anne Sofie von Otter (Dido), Stephen Varcoe (Aeneas), Lynne Dawson (Belinda), Nigel Rogers (Sorceress/Sailor), Sarah Leonard (Second Woman), Kym Amps (Spirit), Carol Hall, Elisabeth Priday (Witches) King Arthur, Z628 Nancy Argenta, Julia Gooding, Linda Perillo, Jamie MacDougall, Mark Tucker, Brian Bannatyne-Scott, Gerald Finley Prophetess or The History of Dioclesian, Z627 Timon of Athens, Z632 3 Odes |
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Gramophone Magazine