Product Overview
John Blow: Venus & Adonis - Catherine Bott, Michael George, New London Consort, Philip Pickett / L'Oiseau-Lyre Audio CD 2008 / 478 0019
UPC 028947800194
Venus and Adonis is an opera in three acts and a prologue by the English Baroque composer John Blow, composed no later than 1684 (when we know it was revived) and no earlier than 1681 (when its text was completed). It was written for the court of King Charles II at either London or Windsor Castle. It is considered by some to be either a semi-opera or a masque, but The New Grove names it as the earliest known English opera.
The author of the libretto was surmised to have been Aphra Behn due to the feminist nature of the text, and that she later worked with Blow on the play The Luckey Chance. However, according to the musicologist Bruce Wood, in his 2008 critical edition of the work for the Purcell Society, the librettist "has been identified by James Winn as Anne Kingsmill, subsequently married as Anne Finch". The story is based on the Classical myth of Venus and Adonis, which was also the basis for Shakespeare's poem Venus and Adonis, as well as Ovid's poem of the same name in his Metamorphoses.
| Label: | L'Oiseau-Lyre – 478 0019 |
|---|---|
| Format: |
CD, Album
|
| Country: | Europe |
| Released: |
2008 |
| Genre: | Classical |
| Style: | Opera, Baroque |
Tracklist:
| 1 | Overture | 4:28 | |
| The Prologue | |||
| 2 | Behold My Arrows And My Bow (Cupid) | 0:49 | |
| 3 | Come Shepherds All, Let's Sing And Play (Shepherdess) | 3:18 | |
| 4 | In These Sweet Groves Love Is Not Taught (Cupid) | 3:31 | |
| 5 | Cupid's Entry | 1:05 | |
|
Act One |
|||
| 6 | Tune For Flutes | 2:27 | |
| 7 | Venus!... Adonis!,,, (Adonis, Venus) | 1:55 | |
| 8 | Hunter's Music / Hark, Hark, The Rural Music Sounds (Venus) | 1:08 | |
| 9 | Adonis Will Not Hunt Today (Adonis) | 2:34 | |
| 10 | Come Follow, Follow To The Noblest Game (Chorus Of Huntsmen) |
2:45 | |
| 11 | A Dance By A Huntsman | 1:25 | |
| 12 | Act Tune | 1:42 | |
|
Act Two |
|||
| 13 | You Place With Such Delightful Care (Cupid) | 1:42 | |
| 14 | The Insolent, The Arrogant (Cupid) | 1:18 | |
| 15 | Choose For The Formal Fool (Cupid) | 1:42 | |
| 16 | A Dance Of Cupids | 1:35 | |
| 17 | Call The Graces (Venus) | 1:04 | |
| 18 | Mortals Below, Cupids Above (Chorus Of The Graces) | 1:16 | |
| 19 | The Grace's Dance | 1:28 | |
| 20 | Gavatt | 1:13 | |
| 21 | Sarabrand For The Graces | 1:06 | |
| 22 | A Ground | 2:17 | |
| 23 | Act Tune | 2:24 | |
|
Act Three |
|||
| 24 | Adonis! Adonis! Adonis! (Venus) | 6:13 | |
| 25 | With Solemn Pomp Let Mourning Cupids Bear (Venus) | 2:23 | |
| 26 | Mourn For Thy Servant, Mighty God Of Love (Chorus) | 3:49 |
- Cello [Bass Violin] – Catherine Finnis, Jo Levine, Richard Campbell, Richard Tunnicliffe
- Chorus – Choristers Of Westminster Abbey Choir
- Chorus Master, Organ – Martin Neary (2)
- Composed By – John Blow
- Conductor – Philip Pickett
- Cover [Painting] – Nicolas Poussin
- Engineer [Recording Editor] – Jenni Whiteside
- Engineer [Recording Engineer] – Simon Eadon
- Harpsichord, Organ – David Roblou, Janet Waterfield
- Orchestra – New London Consort
- Producer – Chris Sayers
- Recorder – Elizabeth Stanbridge, Pamela Thorby, Robert Ehrlich
- Theorbo – Paula Chateauneuf, Tom Finucane, William Carter
- Viol – Mark Levy
- Viola – Chizuko Ishikawa, David Brooker, Marshall Marcus, Sue Picknell
- Violin – Helen Brown (2), Helen Orsler, Jonathan Kahan, Miles Golding, Nicolette Moonen, Pavlo Beznosiuk, Rachel Podger
- Vocals [Adonis] – Michael George (3)
- Vocals [Cupid] – Libby Crabtree
- Vocals [Huntsman 2] – Paul Agnew (2)
- Vocals [Little Cupids] – Alastair Brookshaw, Christian Wilson (3), Richard Silver, Simon de Baat, Stephen Brasier, Stephen Dickinson
- Vocals [Shepherd 1] – Andrew King (5)
- Vocals [Shepherd 2, Huntsman 3, Grace] – Simon Grant (4)
- Vocals [Shepherd 3, Huntsman 1, Grace] – Christopher Robson
- Vocals [Shepherdess, Grace] – Julia Gooding
- Vocals [Venus] – Catherine Bott
