Purcell's "Fairy Queen"
\V HEN Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream was presented at the time of the Restoration, Samuel Pepys described it as "the most insipid, ridiculous play that ever I saw in my life.’ This may have been the general opinion, for when the play was put on the stage in 1692 it was in an "improved" form. Shakespeare’s words had been curtailed or turned into doggerel, and each act ended with a largely irrelevant but, spectacular entertainment, with music by Henry Purcell. This "opera," The Fairy Queen, was really a play with a series of masques. It was a great success, and when it was revived in the following year Purcell provided some additional songs. After his death in 1695 the score was lost and not found till 1903. Concert performances were given in the years following its rediscovery. Then in 1921 The Fairy Queen was again produced on the stage--for the first time since the 17th Century. It has been produced several times since, in England and on the Continent. One of the most memorable of its presentations in England was at Covent Garden in 1946, when it was adapted by the late Constant Lambert. Last February this version,was broadcast in the BBC Third Programme, and in a shortened form it is now to be heard by New Zealand listeners. Those taking part are Joan Alexander and Ena Mitchell (sopranos), Nancy Evans (mezzo-soprano), Janet Fraser (contralto), René Soames (tenor) and Trevor Anthony (bass), with Boris Ord (harp-
sichord), the BBC Chorus, and the Philharmonia Orchestra under Constant Lambert. | : Harold Rutland has said that "the | purely dramatic element is largely ita sent in Purcell’s share in the work; the | masques, which alone call for music, ate | essentially either decorative or spec- | tacular. Yet limited though it is in emo-_ tional range, The Fairy Queen, with its captivating tunes and harmonic originality, has a freshness and charm that Purcell never surpassed." Station 4YC will broadcast The Pally, Queen at 7.0 p.m. on ‘Sunday, December 23, and listeners will hear it later from other stations. |
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New Zealand Listener, Volume 25, Issue 650, 14 December 1951, Page 11
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345Purcell's "Fairy Queen" New Zealand Listener, Volume 25, Issue 650, 14 December 1951, Page 11
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