Henry Purcell
The Fairy Queen
(semi-staged; sung and spoken in English, with English surtitles)
Paulina Francisco
soprano
Georgia Burashko
mezzo-soprano
Rebecca Leggett
mezzo-soprano
Juliette Mey
mezzo-soprano
Rodrigo Carreto
tenor
Ilja Aksionov
tenor
Hugo Herman-Wilson
baritone
Benjamin Schilperoort
bass-baritone
Samuel Florimond
dancer
Anahi Passi
dancer
Alary-Youra Ravin
dancer
Timothée Zig
dancer
Baptiste Coppin
dancer
Daniel Saad
dancer
Compagnie KÄFIG
Les Arts Florissants
ensemble
Paul Agnew
conductor
Mourad Merzouki
choreographer/stage director
Reviewed by:
Reviewed: 6 August, 2024
Venue: Royal Albert Hall
After critically acclaimed runs in New York, Paris and around the world, Mourad Merzouki’s staging of Purcell’s The Fairy Queen comes to the Proms. Expression and spontaneity characterise both Merzouki’s hip hop-derived dance, Paul Agnew’s musical direction and Purcell’s 1692 composition, a series of allegorical celebrations of young love based on Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream. (For two other major musical responses to the play, see Proms 36 & 68.) Goblins and elves meet street dance as Paul Agnew makes his Proms conducting debut and soloists from Le Jardin des Voix (the vocal academy run by Les Arts Florissants) and dancers from Merzouki’s troupe combine in this moving and imaginative meeting of genres.
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