Saint Rose Music Opera to Perform Purcell’s The Fairy Queen

The College of Saint Rose Music Opera Theater will be performing Purcell’s The Fairy Queen in May. This will be the first time the opera has been performed in the United States in over 25 years.

Introduction

The Fairy Queen is a semi-opera by Henry Purcell with a libretto by Nahum Tate. The first performance was on 2 May 1692 at the Theatre Royal, Dorset Garden, and it was Purcell’s last opera.

The Fairy Queen was adapted from A Midsummer Night’s Dream, but it is entirely in Purcell’s style and contains little of Shakespeare’s original text. The work is in five acts, each consisting of a mixture of sung dialogue, recitative, and dances.

The first production was an expensive undertaking and was not particularly successful. However, after several revisions, the work became one of Purcell’s most popular pieces and continues to be performed today.

What is The Fairy Queen?

The Fairy Queen is an opera by Henry Purcell, with a libretto by John Dryden. It was first performed in 1692. The story is based on Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream.

The opera was likely not performed again until 1923, when it was put on at the Sadler’s Wells Theatre in London. It did not become popular again until the late 1950s, when Benjamin Britten staged it at the Aldeburgh Festival. The Fairy Queen has been performed several times since then, including a 2012 production by the English National Opera.

Why is The Fairy Queen being performed?

The Fairy Queen is an opera by Henry Purcell, with a libretto by Nahum Tate. The opera is based on Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream. It was first performed in 1692. The popularity of the opera has grown since then, and it is now one of Purcell’s most frequently performed works.

The Fairy Queen was originally intended to be an entertainment for the wedding of Prince James, Duke of York (the future James II), and Anne Hyde. However, the wedding was cancelled and the opera was not performed until 1692.

The libretto for The Fairy Queen is based on Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream. However, Purcell and Tate made significant changes to the original play. For example, they added new characters (such as the Indian Emperor and his train) and changed the ending so that Queen Titania forgives Oberon and returns to him.

The opera is in five acts, with a prologue and epilogue. The prologue explains that the opera will be a recreation of a particular moment in time (“Now, during this short hour, let Fancy fire/ Imagination”). The first act depicts the fairy king Oberon and his queen Titania arguing over a young Indian boy whom Oberon wants to keep as his page. This disagreement causes Oberon to put a spell on Titania which makes her fall in love with a mean-spirited creature called Bottom (a character from Shakespeare’s play who has been transformed into an ass).

In the second act, we meet four young lovers: Hermia, Lysander, Helena, and Demetrius. Hermia is in love with Lysander but her father wants her to marry Demetrius. Helena is in love with Demetrius but he does not return her feelings. Lysander and Hermia plan to run away together but are pursued by Demetrius and Helena. Oberon sees all this unfolding and decides to help Hermia by putting a spell on Demetrius which makes him fall in love with Helena instead. This plan goes awry when Oberon accidentally puts the spell on Lysander instead!

In the third act, we find Bottom (still transformed into an ass) stumbling around in the forest trying to find his way home. He comes across Titania who has fallen asleep under Oberon’s spell. Bottom professes his love for Titania and she waking up, she believes that he is really Nick Bottom (a character from Shakespeare’s play) who has been transformed into an ass! She takes him home with her where he entertain her train with a crude comedy routine.

In the fourth act, Oberon releases Titania from his spell but she is still upset about Bottom’s treatment at his hands. To make amends, Oberon brings Bottom back to Titania transformed back into himself. They all forgive each other and decide to return home leaving behind Puck (Oberon’s servant) to fix any problems that he may have caused while they were all away “in fairyland.”

The epilogue tells us that what we have seen was all just a dream (“If we shadows have offended/Think but this/and all is mended”).

When is The Fairy Queen being performed?

The Fairy Queen will be performed on Friday, May 11th at 7:30pm in the Massry Center for the Arts at The College of Saint Rose.

Who is performing in The Fairy Queen?

The Fairy Queen will be performed by the Saint Rose Music Opera, a student-run organization at the College of Saint Rose in Albany, New York. The opera is based on a play by William Shakespeare, and was composed by Henry Purcell in 1692. It will be performed in English with English supertitles.

How was The Fairy Queen created?

The Fairy Queen was created by English composer Henry Purcell in 1692. The work is based on a play by William Shakespeare, and it is believed to have been written for the wedding of Princess Mary and Prince William of Orange. The Fairy Queen was first performed at the Theatre Royal in Drury Lane, London, on May 2, 1692.

The Fairy Queen is a semi-opera, meaning that it is a mix of spoken dialogue and musical numbers. The work is divided into five acts, and each act contains several scenes. The musical numbers include solos, duets, trios, choruses, and dances. The scenes are interspersed with spoken dialogue, which advances the plot of the play.

The story of The Fairy Queen centers around the character of Oberon, the king of the fairies. Oberon is in love with Titania, the queen of the fairies. However, Titania has fallen in love with a mortal man named Bottom. Oberon becomes jealous and decides to take revenge on Titania by putting a spell on her. This spell causes Titania to fall in love with Bottom, who has been transformed into an ass by another fairy.

The Fairy Queen was not well-received by contemporary audiences, and it was not revived after its initial run at the theatre. However, Purcell’s music was praised by his contemporaries, and The Fairy Queen has since become one of Purcell’s most popular works.

What is the music like in The Fairy Queen?

One of the most unique aspects of this opera is the music. While Purcell was writing this piece, he was experimenting with combining different genres of music. As a result, The Fairy Queen contains elements of both opera and ode. An ode is a type of lyric poem that often celebrates someone or something. musically, it is characterized by having a regular pattern of Meter and rhyme. The Fairy Queen also contains dances, which were often included in operas to please the audience.

What is the story of The Fairy Queen?

The Fairy Queen is a masque, or semi-opera, by Henry Purcell with a libretto by Jeremy Collier. It was first performed in 1692. The piece is based on A Midsummer Night’s Dream by William Shakespeare. The story revolves around Oberon and Titania, the king and queen of the fairies, who are feuding over a young boy. They enlist the help of various creatures to try to resolve their differences, but ultimately they overcome their differences and come together in peace.

What is the ending of The Fairy Queen?

The Fairy Queen ends with a masque in which the various characters come together to celebrate the marriage of happily wedded couple, Phyllis and Damon.

What are the reviews of The Fairy Queen?

The Fairy Queen has received mixed reviews from music critics. Some have praised its accessibility andcatchiness, while others have criticized it for being too derivative of other Purcell operas.