Introducción
THE FAIRY QUEEN
Henry Purcell
Semi-opera with a prologue and five acts
Anonymous libretto based upon William Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream
Or a summer night of crazy love
Semi-staged version
The Fairy Queen is a masque, the hybrid genre typical of the British Isles, in which music alternates with declamation and dance. This masque in a prologue and five acts is based on A Midsummer Night's Dream by William Shakespeare, a work for which it probably served as stage music in 1692. The nocturnal coolness of an English forest populated by fairies, elves, goblins and sprites, is invaded by humans lost in its fragrant and deceptive thickness. One character will have his head replaced by that of an ass, and the queen of the fairies herself will lose her mind by love for the braying brute while there is singing and crying for love under foliage, moss and leaves.
William Christie and his ensemble Les Arts Florissants, specialised in performing on original instruments, are visiting the Palau de les Arts for the third time. They left an enjoyable memory with their reference versions of Mozart's La finta giardiniera and Händel’s Partenope. Now it is the turn of The Fairy Queen by Purcell, whose Dido and Aeneas was produced in 2012 at the Teatre Martín i Soler. The stage director is the French choreographer Mourad Merzouki, a hip-hop artist of the 1990s, who has gained recognition since then for his multidisciplinary and innovative approaches. The vocal cast is made up of the members of Le Jardin des Voix 2023, the baroque singing academy established by Les Arts Florissants to promote the career of young talents.
Creative Team
Conductor
William Christie
Stage Director and choreographer
Mourad Merzouki
Cast
Paulina Francisco
Georgia Burashko
Rebecca Leggett
Juliette Mey
Ilja Aksionov
Rodrigo Carreto
Hugo Herman-Wilson
Benjamin Schilperoort
Le jardin des Voix 2023
Les Arts Florissants
