Purcell: Complete Ayres for the Theatre cover

Purcell: Complete Ayres for the Theatre

Composer
Released

This three-disc set features all of the overtures, suites, and other incidental instrumental music (as well as instrumental versions of arias and songs) written for operas and other theater works by the great English baroque composer Henry Purcell. They include incidental music for such “semi-operas” as King Arthur, Dioclesian, and (of course) The Fairy Queen. Many of the brief pieces are written in dance rhythms, but some of the work is more serious and magisterial. Roy Goodman and the Parley of Instruments perform with all requisite nimbleness and grace.

Rick Anderson

Recommended by

Suggestions
Pavans & Fancies for the Viols cover

Pavans & Fancies for the Viols

Richard Mico, Concerto di Viole
Baltic Voices 1 cover

Baltic Voices 1

Estonian Philharmonic Chamber Choir, Paul Hillier
Little Girl Blue: From Nina Simone cover

Little Girl Blue: From Nina Simone

Sonia Wieder-Atherton, Laurent Kraif, Bruno Fontaine
Allegri: Masses, Miserere & Motets cover

Allegri: Masses, Miserere & Motets

The Choir of King's College London, David Trendell
Philip Glass: Einstein on the Beach cover

Philip Glass: Einstein on the Beach

Michael Riesman, The Philip Glass Ensemble
Tokyo Stories cover

Tokyo Stories

Francesco Tristano
Brixi: Magnificat. Music From Eighteenth-Century Prague cover

Brixi: Magnificat. Music From Eighteenth-Century Prague

Hipocondria Ensemble, Jan Hádek, Jaromír Nosek, Hana Blažíková
Recomposed by Max Richter: Vivaldi - The Four Seasons cover

Recomposed by Max Richter: Vivaldi - The Four Seasons

André de Ridder, Konzerthaus Kammerorchester Berlin, Daniel Hope