An intimate and vibrant reimagining of The Fairy Queen by Henry Purcell, performed by a new generation of baroque musicians trained in the Netherlands.
The Fairy Queen (1692) is one of Purcell’s greatest theatrical masterpieces, a semi-opera that combines instrumental music, songs, and dance scenes interwoven with a spoken play. Though inspired by Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Purcell never sets Shakespeare’s text to music. Instead, he created fantastical musical masques that reflect and expand on the emotional world of the characters, turning the production into a vivid journey of the senses.
Each act contains self-contained musical scenes filled with enchantment, humour, and symbolism: drunken poets, night fairies, Chinese gods, lovers lost in sleep, all portrayed with striking inventiveness and lyrical beauty.
When The Fairy Queen was rediscovered in the early 20th century, its original manuscript had been lost, and the work was mistakenly catalogued as anonymous. It wasn’t until 1940 that it was correctly attributed to Henry Purcell, giving it a long-overdue place among the gems of English baroque music.
In this new chamber version, Barok Bruggen brings fresh life to the work, highlighting its emotional richness and theatrical fantasy, while offering a platform for emerging baroque specialists at the beginning of their professional careers.
Players:
First violins: Ryo Terakado and Sakura Goto
Second violin: Alba Conejo Mangas and Malú Pomares Lima
Viola: Alba Mariela Meza
Harpsichord: Mariano Boglioli
Violone: Mario Alejandro Torres Valdivieso
Soprano: Paulina Francisco
Baritone: Ahmed Gomez Perez
