Henry Purcell, Styriarte 2014

Henry Purcell: The Fairy Queen (Semi-Opera)

The imagination knows no bounds in the realm of the Fairy Queen. A young couple sings “Let us leave the town” at the beginning. Spirits dart through the air, bird calls and echoes resound through the Styriarte forest when Nikolaus Harnoncourt conducts Purcell’s greatest semi-opera. Director is Philipp Harnoncourt. In baroque London, semi-opera was the term given to these opulent revues of acting and musical masques. The Fairy Queen was the most expensive of them all, premiering at the Drury Lane Theatre in 1692.

Dorothea Röschmann, soprano
Martina Janková, soprano
Elisabeth von Magnus, mezzosoprano
Terry Wey, countertenor
Joshua Ellicott, tenor
Florian Boesch, bass
Rita Sereinig, dancer
Max Niemeyer, dancer
Arnold Schoenberg Chor
Concentus Musicus Wien
Nikolaus Harnoncourt, conductor
Philipp Harnoncourt, stage director & lighting
Elisabeth Ahsef, costumes
Lilli Hartmann, stage wall, paintings and masks
Anna Schrefl, choreography