COMPOSERS: Purcell
LABELS: Harmonia Mundi
WORKS: The Fairy Queen
PERFORMER: Deller Consort/Alfred Deller
CATALOGUE NO: HMP 390 257/58 ADD (1972)
Undoubtedly a pioneering disc 20 years ago of Purcell’s late masterpiece, but scholarship concerning performance practice and recording technique has moved on. Nevertheless, it is valuable to be reminded of the immense musicality of Deller, in a recording that is warm if somewhat languorous and uneven vocally. At the price, it’s a bargain.
Annette Morreau