Gabrieli Consort, Paul McCreesh – Purcell: The Fairy Queen, 1692 (2020)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/192 kHz | Time – 02:19:04 minutes | 4,20 GB | Genre: Classical
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © Signum Records
Purcell’s The Fairy Queen is based on Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream, a play not frequently performed in the late 17th century, nor very well regarded (“the most insipid ridiculous play that ever I saw in my life” – Samuel Pepys’ diary, 1662). Despite this, the play would go on to work well within an opera, as the characters of Pyramus and Thisbe could conjure up singing and dancing accomplices. Purcell’s masterful composition, Gabrieli’s first-class performance, and McCreesh’s superb interpretation demonstrate why their recordings are seen as some of the best in classical music today.
Tracklist:
1. Gabrieli & Paul McCreesh – The Fairy Queen, Z. 629: Prelude (01:40)
2. Gabrieli & Paul McCreesh – The Fairy Queen, Z. 629: Hornpipe (01:01)
3. Gabrieli & Paul McCreesh – The Fairy Queen, Z. 629: Air (01:22)
4. Gabrieli & Paul McCreesh – The Fairy Queen, Z. 629: Rondeau (01:35)
5. Gabrieli & Paul McCreesh – The Fairy Queen, Z. 629: Overture (01:32)
6. Gabrieli & Paul McCreesh – The Fairy Queen, Z. 629, Act I: Prelude & Song – Come, Let Us Leave the Town (02:43)
7. Gabrieli & Paul McCreesh – The Fairy Queen, Z. 629, Act I: Scene of the Drunken Poet (06:18)
8. Gabrieli & Paul McCreesh – The Fairy Queen, Z. 629, Act I: First Act Tune – Jig (01:07)
9. Gabrieli & Paul McCreesh – The Fairy Queen, Z. 629, Act II: Prelude & Song – Come All Ye Songsters (02:08)
10. Gabrieli & Paul McCreesh – The Fairy Queen, Z. 629, Act II: Symphony in Imitation of Birds (01:16)
11. Gabrieli & Paul McCreesh – The Fairy Queen, Z. 629, Act II: Song – May the God of Wit Inspire (01:17)
12. Gabrieli & Paul McCreesh – The Fairy Queen, Z. 629, Act II: Symphony in Imitation of an Echo (01:52)
13. Gabrieli & Paul McCreesh – The Fairy Queen, Z. 629, Act II: Chorus – Now Join Your Warbling Voices All (00:32)
14. Gabrieli & Paul McCreesh – The Fairy Queen, Z. 629, Act II: Song, Chorus & Dance – Sing While We Trip It (02:11)
15. Gabrieli & Paul McCreesh – The Fairy Queen, Z. 629, Act II: Prelude & Song – See, Even Night Herself is Here (05:06)
16. Gabrieli & Paul McCreesh – The Fairy Queen, Z. 629, Act II: Song – I Am Come to Lock All Fast (01:38)
17. Gabrieli & Paul McCreesh – The Fairy Queen, Z. 629, Act II: Prelude & Song – One Charming Night (02:25)
18. Gabrieli & Paul McCreesh – The Fairy Queen, Z. 629, Act II: Song & Chorus – Hush, No More (04:14)
19. Gabrieli & Paul McCreesh – The Fairy Queen, Z. 629, Act II: Dance for the Followers of Night (01:40)
20. Gabrieli & Paul McCreesh – The Fairy Queen, Z. 629, Act II: Second Act Tune – Air (01:35)
21. Gabrieli & Paul McCreesh – The Fairy Queen, Z. 629, Act III: Prelude, Song & Chorus – If Love’s a Sweet Passion (05:22)
22. Gabrieli & Paul McCreesh – The Fairy Queen, Z. 629, Act III: Symphony While the Swans Come Forward (02:21)
23. Gabrieli & Paul McCreesh – The Fairy Queen, Z. 629, Act III: Dance for the Fairies (00:41)
24. Gabrieli & Paul McCreesh – The Fairy Queen, Z. 629, Act III: Dance for the Green Men (01:39)
25. Gabrieli & Paul McCreesh – The Fairy Queen, Z. 629, Act III: Song – Ye Gentle Spirits of the Air (05:37)
26. Gabrieli & Paul McCreesh – The Fairy Queen, Z. 629, Act III: Prelude & Dialogue – Now the Maids and the Men are Making of Hay (03:49)
27. Gabrieli & Paul McCreesh – The Fairy Queen, Z. 629, Act III: Dance for the Haymakers (00:53)
28. Gabrieli & Paul McCreesh – The Fairy Queen, Z. 629, Act III: Prelude & Song – When I Have Often Heard Young Maids Complaining (02:29)
29. Gabrieli & Paul McCreesh – The Fairy Queen, Z. 629, Act III: Song & Chorus – A Thousand, Thousand Ways (02:02)
30. Gabrieli & Paul McCreesh – The Fairy Queen, Z. 629, Act III: Third Act Tune – Hornpipe (01:08)
31. Gabrieli & Paul McCreesh – The Fairy Queen, Z. 629, Act IV: Symphony – Prelude / Canzona / Largo / Allegro / Adagio / Allegro (06:12)
32. Gabrieli & Paul McCreesh – The Fairy Queen, Z. 629, Act IV: Song & Chorus – Now the Night is Chas’d Away (02:03)
33. Gabrieli & Paul McCreesh – The Fairy Queen, Z. 629, Act IV: Song – Let the Fifes and the Clarions (01:16)
34. Gabrieli & Paul McCreesh – The Fairy Queen, Z. 629, Act IV: Symphony for the Entry of Phoebus (00:33)
35. Gabrieli & Paul McCreesh – The Fairy Queen, Z. 629, Act IV: Prelude & Song – When a Cruel Long Winter (02:52)
36. Gabrieli & Paul McCreesh – The Fairy Queen, Z. 629, Act IV: Chorus – Hail! Great Parent of Us All (02:01)
37. Gabrieli & Paul McCreesh – The Fairy Queen, Z. 629, Act IV: Prelude & Song – Thus the Ever Grateful Spring (02:00)
38. Gabrieli & Paul McCreesh – The Fairy Queen, Z. 629, Act IV: Prelude & Song – Here’s the Summer (01:47)
39. Gabrieli & Paul McCreesh – The Fairy Queen, Z. 629, Act IV: Prelude & Song – See My Many Colour’d Fields (03:15)
40. Gabrieli & Paul McCreesh – The Fairy Queen, Z. 629, Act IV: Song – Next, Winter Comes Slowly (02:38)
41. Gabrieli & Paul McCreesh – The Fairy Queen, Z. 629, Act IV: Chorus – Hail! Great Parent of Us All (2) (02:04)
42. Gabrieli & Paul McCreesh – The Fairy Queen, Z. 629, Act IV: Fourth Act Tune – Air (01:15)
43. Gabrieli & Paul McCreesh – The Fairy Queen, Z. 629, Interlude: The Plaint – O Let Me Weep (07:52)
44. Gabrieli & Paul McCreesh – The Fairy Queen, Z. 629, Act V: Prelude & Song – Thrice Happy Lovers (04:09)
45. Gabrieli & Paul McCreesh – The Fairy Queen, Z. 629, Act V: Entry Dance (01:25)
46. Gabrieli & Paul McCreesh – The Fairy Queen, Z. 629, Act V: Symphony (01:04)
47. Gabrieli & Paul McCreesh – The Fairy Queen, Z. 629, Act V: Song – Thus the Gloomy World (04:50)
48. Gabrieli & Paul McCreesh – The Fairy Queen, Z. 629, Act V: Prelude, Song & Chorus – Thus Happy and Free (01:16)
49. Gabrieli & Paul McCreesh – The Fairy Queen, Z. 629, Act V: Song – Yes, Daphne (02:37)
50. Gabrieli & Paul McCreesh – The Fairy Queen, Z. 629, Act V: Dance for the Monkeys (01:00)
51. Gabrieli & Paul McCreesh – The Fairy Queen, Z. 629, Act V: Song – Hark How All Things with One Sound Rejoice (02:06)
52. Gabrieli & Paul McCreesh – The Fairy Queen, Z. 629, Act V: Song & Chorus – Hark the Echoing Air a Triumph Sings (02:26)
53. Gabrieli & Paul McCreesh – The Fairy Queen, Z. 629, Act V: Song & Chorus – Sure the Dull God of Marriage / Hymen Appear (03:00)
54. Gabrieli & Paul McCreesh – The Fairy Queen, Z. 629, Act V: Prelude as Hymen Enters (00:47)
55. Gabrieli & Paul McCreesh – The Fairy Queen, Z. 629, Act V: Song – See, I Obey / Turn Then Thine Eyes / My Torch, Indeed (04:07)
56. Gabrieli & Paul McCreesh – The Fairy Queen, Z. 629, Act V: Song & Chorus – They Shall Be As Happy As They’re Fair (02:10)
57. Gabrieli & Paul McCreesh – The Fairy Queen, Z. 629, Act V: Dance for Chinese Man & Woman – Chaconne (02:39)