Purcell / Zomer Symphony While The Swans Come Forward Super-Audio CD

For their debut album on Challenge Classics, La Sfera ARmoniosa and it's artistic director have chosen orchestral music and arias from the operas by Henry Purcell. La Sfera Armoniosa, founded in 1992, is a Dutch Baroque ensemble and orchestra specializing in the performance of music from the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. Artistic director Mike Fentross writes: "I was really moved when I heard my orchestra playing the opening bars of Purcell. I heard a sound that was quite different to what I knew from other present-day baroque orchestras. Was this sound closer to that of Purcell's own orchestra, a sound that he may have had in mind when composing this wondrous music? In the very first chat I had about this project with Lidewij van der Voort, our new concertmaster, we talked about the modern adaptations that are often (and understandably) applied to baroque instruments nowadays, and about the possibility of going back to authentic strings (completely bare gut) and a 17th century bow hold (the French grip) for this Purcell project. As it happens, I'd had a similar conversation not long before that with Lidewei de Sterck, our principal oboist, about authentic reeds (scraped from the inside) and with Graham Nicholson, about 17th century trumpets (natural trumpets with no fingerholes). These aspects, seemingly just details, have a major impact not just on the sound but also the way of playing and therefore on the way we interpret the music. We all felt the need to record this album with these 'experimental' instruments. An orchestral sound with so much transparency and color, a way of playing with such narrative power!"

1. The Prophetess: Or, the History of Dioclesian, Z.627 -Symphony for Trumpets and Violins 2. The Prophetess: Or, the History of Dioclesian, Z.627 - First Music 3. The Prophetess: Or, the History of Dioclesian, Z.627 - What Shall I Do to Show Her How Much I Love Her 4. The Prophetess: Or, the History of Dioclesian, Z.627 - Butterfly Dance 5. The Prophetess: Or, the History of Dioclesian, Z.627 - Dance of Furies 6. The Prophetess: Or, the History of Dioclesian, Z.627 - Since from My Dear 7. The Prophetess: Or, the History of Dioclesian, Z.627 - Tune for Trumpets 8. The Prophetess: Or, the History of Dioclesian, Z.627 - Canaries 9. The Indian Queen, Z.630 - Air 10. The Indian Queen, Z.630 - I Attempt from Love's Sickness 11. The Indian Queen, Z.630 - Hornpipe 12. King Arthur, Z.628 - Overture 13. King Arthur, Z.628 - First Act Tune 14. King Arthur, Z.628 - Hornpipe 15. King Arthur, Z.628 - Fairest Isle 16. King Arthur, Z.628 - Trumpet Tune 17. King Arthur, Z.628 - St. George, the Patron of Our Isle 18. King Arthur, Z.628 - Chaconne 19. The Fairy Queen, Z.629 - Preludio 20. The Fairy Queen, Z.629 - Hornpipe 21. The Fairy Queen, Z.629 - Air 22. The Fairy Queen, Z.629 - Rondeau 23. The Fairy Queen, Z.629 - Symphony While the Swans Come Forward 24. The Fairy Queen, Z.629 - If Love's a Sweet Passion 25. The Fairy Queen, Z.629 - Symphony: Prelude, Canzona, Largo, Allegro, Adagio, Allegro 26. The Fairy Queen, Z.629 - Ye Gentle Spirits of the Air 27. The Fairy Queen, Z.629 - Dance for the Followers Night 28. The Fairy Queen, Z.629 - See Even Night Herself Is Here 29. The Fairy Queen, Z.629 - Air 30. The Fairy Queen, Z.629 - Hark! the Echoing Air 31. The Fairy Queen, Z.629 - Grand Dance