The Purcell Thread

Started by dtwilbanks, September 18, 2007, 06:51:44 AM

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dtwilbanks

List your favorite Purcell recordings here, please. Thanks.

Mark

Tried 'The Fairy Queen' yet? You're in for a treat. ;)

dtwilbanks

Quote from: Mark on September 18, 2007, 07:00:47 AM
Tried 'The Fairy Queen' yet? You're in for a treat. ;)

Which recording, sir?

JoshLilly

http://tinyurl.com/3cs9nj

This is a very low-priced two-CD box, one of the best values for the dollar in my collection. I used to hunt around for Baroque music by composers other than the infamous Big Three of that era, and Purcell seemed to be near the 4th most named. Amazingly, our local (pathetic) library had two of his complete operas, King Arthur and The Fairy Queen, which I checked out and listened to.

Some of the songs on these CDs are terrific. I got it for Nancy Argenta's voice alone, but ended up finding a few favourites here. The musicians are drawn from one of the most underrated orchestras, Ensemble Sonnerie, and sound superb. I was really surprised by how great this box is, especially taking price into consideration.

Mark

Quote from: dtwilbanks on September 18, 2007, 07:02:18 AM
Which recording, sir?

I have Naxos (got it cheap in a charity shop), though I understand that Harry Christophers and The Sixteen have done a version well worth hearing.

The new erato

King Arthur with Pinnock on Archiv and The Fairy Queen with Christie on HM.

BachQ

Quote from: Que on September 18, 2007, 07:49:20 AM
A thread on Purcell is an excellent idea.

I completely agree.

And I applaud dt's magnanimous efforts to educate the greater GMG public on this topic ..........

Lethevich

This is a very nice disc, well-priced.

Peanut butter, flour and sugar do not make cookies. They make FIRE.

FideLeo



So the conductor was convicted for a crime, but he has quite a way with Purcell's music.
HIP for all and all for HIP! Harpsichord for Bach, fortepiano for Beethoven and pianoforte for Brahms!

Lethevich

Quote from: masolino on September 18, 2007, 09:42:46 AM
So the conductor was convicted for a crime, but he has quite a way with Purcell's music.

Yep, it's certainly not going to make me dump my excellent Complete Sacred Music box on Hyperion - which I will continue to recommend.
Peanut butter, flour and sugar do not make cookies. They make FIRE.

dtwilbanks

Oh, c'mon. This is it? :) Surely there are more Purcell enthusiasts than this.

Scriptavolant

#11
This is all I have:



My favorite work is the masque "The Fairy Queen". Still looking for another worthwhile recording, perhaps more recent than the one I own (recorded in 1970).


dtwilbanks

Just added these to my Purcell collection:







Will listen tomorrow at work. :)

BachQ

Quote from: dtwilbanks on September 18, 2007, 06:31:22 PM
Will listen tomorrow at work. :)

It goes without saying that we await your appraisal .........

lukeottevanger



Purcell's most sustained and consummate invention? Perhaps. I vaguely remember someone - possibly Harrison Birtwistle (possibly not) - choosing these pieces on R3's Private Passions and describing them as in some ways being precursors of the late Beethoven Quartets. That same rarefied feeling, absolute perfection from first to last, contrapuntally and harmonically intriguing, but suffused with profound and personal sentiment. And all made to fit snugly on one CD.... bliss, especially in these performances.

Hey, look - the Amazon UK reviewer makes the same Beethoven comparison. So it must be true:

Quote from: someone at Amazon UK
The problem with viol consort composers is that they come in two categories: Purcell and everyone else, however distinguished. Purcell wrote these pieces as the fashion for playing viol consorts was coming to an end and, in a sense, they are a summation of what went before. The music is Purcell at his most intellectual and chromatic; and in its own way it is as satisfying as the late Beethoven string quartets - though in miniature. Fretwork play it beautifully, with an unerring knack of choosing exactly the right tempo and (most important) immaculate intonation. If you like modern string music but don't know Purcell, buy it. Purcell fans will already have bought it.

dtwilbanks

Quote from: lukeottevanger on September 19, 2007, 12:23:09 AM


Purcell's most sustained and consummate invention? Perhaps. I vaguely remember someone - possibly Harrison Birtwistle (possibly not) - choosing these pieces on R3's Private Passions and describing them as in some ways being precursors of the late Beethoven Quartets. That same rarefied feeling, absolute perfection from first to last, contrapuntally and harmonically intriguing, but suffused with profound and personal sentiment. And all made to fit snugly on one CD.... bliss, especially in these performances.

Hey, look - the Amazon UK reviewer makes the same Beethoven comparison. So it must be true:


Sold! Thanks.

D Minor, I'm no reviewer, so I don't trust myself to "appraise" anything. However I can tell you if I like them, which I probably will. It's Purcell! :)


Harry

Quote from: Que on September 18, 2007, 07:49:20 AM
dt, I'm glad this new thread is actually about something!
A thread on Purcell is an excellent idea.

This is a very obvious suggestion, but since nobody had mentioned it sofar...  8)



Q

And not to forget the Chandos Chaconne recording with Emma Kirby, also a gem.

Shrunk



Dido & Aeneas:  Dame Janet Baker, ECO, Anthony Lewis

I generally prefer my early music HIP.  However, a performance like this blows away my reservations.

Harry

#19
, One of them should be in your collection and that is this one, never mind the stories about King, this is a absolute must for Purcell fans.