LYCOS RETRIEVER 
Henry Purcell: Queen Mary
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Purcell is perhaps most famous for his music for the theatre, which began to occupy him more as opportunities for church music in the more serious-minded court of William and Mary diminished. His only true opera is Dido and Aeneas, a masterpiece based on a tragedy by Nahum Tate and first performed in about 1689. Other dramatic works, sometimes called semi-operas, are masques of instrumental and vocal music written to accompany such plays as Thomas Betterton's Dioclesian (1690); John Dryden's King Arthur (1691); The Fairy Queen (1692, a masque adapted from Shakespeare's Midsummer Night's Dream); and Dryden's and Sir Robert Howard's The Indian Queen (1695; completed by Purcell's brother Daniel), which contains some of Purcell's most famous music.
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In a manner allied to that of his anthems, but, as a rule, of greater elaboration, are the many odes which Purcell composed for state and private celebrations. Odes were the fashion of the day, and whether St. Ceclia's day was to be celebrated according to the jovial custom of the time, or London Yorekshiremen met for their annual feast, or the King returned to his capital from Newmarket, or the queen fancied that she was going to have a baby, the occasion required musical celebration. The words of these odes are usually the most dismal pieces of hack-work imaginable, but Purcell generally found something in them to fire his genius. The choral parts of these works are often singularly rich and imposing, and are usually more fully developed than similar passages in the anthems.
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"Lyrichord Early Music Series' release of Dido and Aeneas is a powerful reminder of the greatness of Purcell's only opera. The early music group Ama Deus Ensemble conducted by Valentin Radu turns in a performance of wrenching simplicity and musical and dramatic directness. Julianne Baird sings with pearly luminosity as the doomed queen Dido, whose grief so overwhelms her that she can hardly whisper her despair… Andrea Lauren Brown as Belinda is fresh-voiced and pure, and Timothy Bentch's Aeneas is open and heroic.... The minor characters and the chorus perform with limberness and idiomatic sensitivity, as does the orchestra of strings and continuo… The excellent sound is spacious and clean." - Stephen Eddins, All Music Guide
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In the year 1713 Handel's "Te Deum" for the peace of Utrecht was produced by command of Queen Anne, and alternately performed with that of Purcell for a number of years. Since 1743... Handel's superior knowledge of instruments and more polished melody have taken possession of the national favor; and Purcell's "Te Deum" is only occasionally performed.
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