Divine Theatre

Track Listings

1. We Prostrate Ourselves

2. Revealing To You

3. Blessed Is The Man

4. What Shall We Call You?

5. The Angel Cried

6. Let Your Servant

7. To Whom Shall I Cry?

8. Let My Prayer Arise

9. Blessed Is The Man

10. The Insistent Litany

11. Appease The Pains

12. The Wise Thiefs

13. Blessed Is The Man

14. Let Your Servant

15. O Ardent Helper

16. The Symbol Of Faith

Customer Reviews:

Disappointing music selection.......2007-06-10

The Puccini aias are very good. I was disappointed by the selection of Verdi arias.

Average customer rating:

Fine reissue of a classic set

Purcell: Theatre Music

Manufacturer: Decca
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Symphonies | Classical | Styles | Music

General | Classical | Styles | Music

General | Chamber Music | Classical | Styles | Music

General | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music

Odes | Vocal Non-Opera | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music

The Decca Records Store | Specialty Stores | Music
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Cantatas for Solo Countertenor
Purcell: The Fairy Queen
Purcell: Songs & Airs / Argenta, North, Boothby, Nicholson, Toll
Monteverdi - Madrigali guerrieri ed amorosi / Concerto Köln, Jacobs
Lute Music, Vol. 2

ASIN: B0001Y4JHA
Release Date: 2004-10-12

Customer Reviews:

Fine reissue of a classic set.......2006-05-24

Think about the stupidest, most formulaic Hollywood movies you can think of: cheesy action pictures, fluffy, unfunny comedies, big but stiff epics. Now imagine that one of the greatest living composers was working in Hollywood, turning out astonishing, hauntingly beautiful and stirring musical scores for these throwaway movies. That's what you get with this set: music Henry Purcell composed for some two dozen often utterly forgettable plays (trust me--I've read a number of them!) Occasionally, when he teams up with a playwright worthy of his stature, such as John Dryden, Aphra Behn, or William Congreve, the results are even better, but for the most part you can enjoy the music here without knowing anything about the original plays.

This set originally appeared as separate LPs in the 70s and 80s, and has been long out of print. That's a pity, since Purcell spent a good deal of his short professional life in the theatre, either writing the incidental music contained on these CDs, or the music for his larger works, the semi-operas (King Arthur, The Fairy Queen, and the like). Almost all of these works are enjoyable gems; certainly, they represent a pinnacle of English 17th century music. Purcell had a genius for spinning musical gold out of the most leaden lyrics (check out his Odes and Welcome Songs on Hyperion if you don't believe me), and he does the same with the song texts in these plays.

Hogwood and the AAM offer clean, listenable performances, and the sound on these old analog discs has been cleaned up and brightened--although they were pretty good, even in the late 70s. As with most Hogwood, emotional extremes are kept to a minimum, so the "otherworldly" nature of late 17th century music, so often emphasised in more recent Baroque performances, doesn't come across here. It would be interesting to see what a group like The King's Consort would do with this music, but this set fills the major gap in the Purcell canon quite nicely.

My only beef with the reissue, as with many reissues, is that the liner notes are rather thin for a 6-cd set--the lyrics to the songs, for example, are especially missed. Still, it's a worthwhile set, and a must for fans of Purcell, English Baroque music, or anyone who just wants to experience a taste of the last days of the Restoration stage.

Average customer rating:

A fascinating sound document of a world hidden for decades

Divine Theatre

Manufacturer: Opus 111
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Classical | Styles | Music

General | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music
ASIN: B00004ZBLC
Release Date: 2001-05-08

Tracks:

We Prostrate Ourselves
Revealing To You
Blessed Is The Man
What Shall We Call You?
The Angel Cried
Let Your Servant
To Whom Shall I Cry?
Let My Prayer Arise
Blessed Is The Man
The Insistent Litany
Appease The Pains
The Wise Thiefs
Blessed Is The Man
Let Your Servant
O Ardent Helper
The Symbol Of Faith

Customer Reviews:

A fascinating sound document of a world hidden for decades.......2005-07-05

After the sweeping reforms of Alexander the Great Russian music tried to modernise by taking on the compositional practices of Western Europe. The natural reaction to this was to eventually evoke a countermovement that turned to the ancient traditions of the Orthodox Church, all while continuing to assimilate elements of the new Western influence. Most typically the deeply meditative solemnity of the ancient tradition was maintained which contrasted markedly with the often more gradiose statements characteristic of much Western sacred music since the Renaissance. So while the title of the CD 'Divine Theatre - Religious Opera in the Russian Church' seems to promise quasi-operatic theatrics the results here always maintain their underlying solemn austerity. Even where there is a solo part - effectively an arioso - it is always written so that a clergyman could take the part so as to sound like he were reading a passage of the Bible to the congregation.

The composers represented here are mostly from the 19th century. Many of them have so lapsed into obscurity that even their dates are unknown. Others include Chesnakov who was obviously composing before the Russian Revolution but survived the upheavals to live until 1944. The CD is a fascinating documentation of a Russian choral tradition that had been hidden from our view for many decades and much of it of exceptional musical interest.

As usual, I have only superlatives to describe this music making. The choral singing is as exceptional as ever. They belong amongst the finest choirs active today - little wonder they draw admiration from choral directors such as Paul Hillier who called this CD 'delicious'. Combine that with the usual great sound from Opus 111 and you have yet another winner.

Track Listings:

Track Listings

track listings

Track Listings

Switch [Original recording remastered] [Import]

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The Unknown Masterpiece - Premieres from the 2003-2004 Season

Vol. 2-Warts & All

Victor Herbert: Sweethearts/Ohio Light Opera [Cast Recording]

War Years

Unchained Force [Import]

Tercera Es la Vencida [Enhanced]

Give Me Your Loven

Blow by Blow

1. We Prostrate Ourselves
2. Revealing To You
3. Blessed Is The Man
4. What Shall We Call You?
5. The Angel Cried
6. Let Your Servant
7. To Whom Shall I Cry?
8. Let My Prayer Arise
9. Blessed Is The Man
10. The Insistent Litany
11. Appease The Pains
12. The Wise Thiefs
13. Blessed Is The Man
14. Let Your Servant
15. O Ardent Helper
16. The Symbol Of Faith