Le Caravansérail, Bertrand Cuiller, Rachel Redmond – A Fancy: Fantasy on English Airs & Tunes (2017) [Official Digital Download 24bit/96kHz]

Le Caravansérail, Bertrand Cuiller, Rachel Redmond – A Fancy: Fantasy on English Airs & Tunes (2017)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/96 kHz | Time – 01:06:02 minutes | 1,26 GB | Genre: Classical
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © harmonia mundi

The theatres of London were vital centres for Restoration music after the return of the Stuart monarchy, following the fall of Cromwell’s puritan dictatorship. Reinvigorated by the arrival of women actors and sumptuous decoration, they attracted a broad audience, which had been starved of entertainment after the years of religious rigour and the virtual ban on public performances. The most sought-after composer of the period was Locke, whose experience in this field went back into the Cromwell years. While Puritans did close theatres, some pieces had been able to overcome the ban, like the masque Cupid and Death set to music by Gibbons, which was played for the Portuguese ambassador in 1657 – then again in 1659, with additional music by Locke. When the theatres re-opened in 1660, there was a demand for music for every play, but more as an ornament than as an integral part of the plot. Each one required a series of airs and instrumental pieces to be played at the start and between each act. Locke wrote more than twenty airs of this type, although they can’t be pinpointed to any specific plays. Most of his stage music, like Curtain Tune and Lilk, survive in various manuscripts from the period, and comprises stage music for plays performed in the final decade of the 17th Century. These are the inter-act pieces, airs or “curtain-raisers” which Bertrand Cuiller’s Caravansérail ensemble plays here – Cuiller, remember, learned the harpsichord with Pierre Hantaï and Christophe Rousset. His last solo album, Rameau’s complete works for harpsichord, was declared Classica’s Shock of the Year 2015. The airs here are sung by Scottish soprano Rachel Redmond, a great performer of baroque music.

Tracklist:
Matthew Locke (ca. 1621/23-1677)
1 Curtain Tune 03:39

Henry Purcell (1659-1695)
2 The Virtuous Wife, Z. 611: Ouverture 02:44

Giovanni Battista Draghi (ca.1640-1708)
3 Romulus and Hersilia: Where are thou, God of Dreams! 02:46

Henry Purcell
4 The Fairy Queen, Z. 629: Hornpipe 00:54

Giovanni Battista Draghi
5 Must I ever sigh in vain? 01:26

Henry Purcell
6 Aureng-Zebe, Z. 573: I see, she flies me 01:48

Matthew Locke
7 Lilk 00:46

Henry Purcell
8 The Virtuous Wife, Z. 611: Second Music 03:15
9 Oh Solitude, Z.406 05:09
10 The Virtuous Wife, Z. 611: First Act Tune 01:05
11 The Mock Marriage, Z. 605: Twas within a furlong of Edinboro’ town 02:28

Samuel Akeyrode (fl.1684-1706)
12 From drinking of Sack by the Pottle 01:16

Anonymous
13 First Music 00:49
14 Saraband 02:26
15 Second Music 00:56

Louis Grabu (fl.1665-1694)
16 Albion and Albanus: O Jealousy! 03:49

Henry Purcell
17 Timon of Athens, Z.632: Curtain Tune 04:21
18 Regulus, Z. 586: Ah me! To many deaths decreed 02:48

John Blow (1649-1708)
19 Venus and Adonis: A Ground 01:58

Matthew Locke
20 Cupid and Death: Fly, my children 04:05
21 The Tempest: Canon a 4 in 2 01:37

Henry Purcell
22 The Fairy Queen, Z. 629: See, even Night herself is here 04:25
23 King Arthur, Z. 628: Symphony 01:56

Matthew Locke
24 Psyché: The Descending of Venus 03:32

James Hart (1647-1718)
25 The Tempest: Adieu to the Pleasures and Follies 05:51

Personnel:
Rachel Redmond, soprano
Le Caravansérail
Bertrand Cuiller, conductor, organ

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