Arts & Events

Purcell’s KING ARTHUR Performed by American Bach Soloists

Reviewed by James Roy MacBean
Saturday August 19, 2017 - 10:27:00 AM

As part of their 2017 Summer Festival, American Bach Soloists presented two performances, August 10-11, of 17th century British composer Henry Purcell’s King Arthur at San Francisco Conservatory of Music. In fashioning King Arthur, Purcell set music to a verse text by poet John Dryden. This was not the first time Purcell and Dryden had teamed up to create works of semi-opera, a genre derived from the court and theatre masques that combined music, theatre and dance. Previously, Dryden and Purcell had worked together on Dioclesian, and, sub-sequently, they combined their talents on The Indian Queen. Purcell and Dryden were a good match: Dryden conceived drama as “nature wrought up to a higher pitch,” while Purcell had acquired a better understanding of Italian musical conventions than any other English composer of the late 17th century. Moreover, both Dryden and Purcell sought successfully to create a truly English art that would celebrate English life. 

For King Arthur they chose to celebrate the medieval 5th or 6th century world of the legendary court of the knights of the Round Table, where Arthur struggles against Saxon invaders. In this struggle, each side has its magicians: Arthur has Merlin, while Oswald, the Saxon king, has Osmond. On Arthur’s side, Merlin is aided by the spirit Philidor, while on Oswald’s side Osmond is aided by the evil spirit Grimbald. These contending magicians and spirits conjure up many a trick to deceive their enemies; but goodness wins out, and the English soldiers defeat the Saxons and make truce with them, merging the two peoples in what became the Anglo-Saxon makeup of England. 

All of this material supplies a sub-text that was provided in this American Bach Soloist production of King Arthur by a narrator, eloquently performed by Hugh Davies. Using Dryden’s text plus additional connective passages, the narrator kept the overall story-line moving, while the various musical moments – songs, dialogues, choruses, and instrumental movements – offered a rich musical portrait of the British Isles, its peoples, and its landscapes. 

All walks of British life are represented, from King Arthur and his court of nobles down to peasants, sailors, shepherds and shepherdesses. Where the peasants are concerned, Purcell’s King Arthur offers a wonderful harvest song followed by a rowdy drinking song admirably performed here by tenor Jorge Prego and baritone Matthew Cramer. Likewise, a trio of fishermen was beautifully sung by countertenor Samuel Siegel, tenor Jacques-Olivier Chartier, and bass Seth S. Katz, whose voices blended exceedingly well. When the Saxon magician Osmond casts a spell that turns England into an icy, snow-covered realm, the role of the Cold Genius was magisterially sung by bass William Meinert. His shivering, chattering aria complaining about the cold was one of the highlights of the opera. He was also joined by a chorus of cold people who likewise shivered and chattered in the freezing cold. Purcell’s stuttering music, both instrumental and vocal, eloquently captures the spirit of a frozen group of people on an icy winter day. Later in King Arthur, William Meinert doubled as Aeolus, who commands the blustery winds to abate.  

Various mythical characters appear briefly in Purcell’s King Arthur. Nereid was sung by soprano Ju Hyeon Han; Pan was sung by bass Seth S. Katz; Cupid was sung by soprano Michele Elizabeth Kennedy, and Venus was sung by soprano Katelyn G. Aungst. To the character of Venus goes Purcell’s patriotic aria “Fairest isle,” a brilliant encomium of England. Toward the end of King Arthur a lovely duet ensues by characters simply identified as She and He. She was sung with great expressivity, both vocal and dramatic, by soprano Amanda Keenan; and bass Bryan Jolly’s He was her lively counterpart in this love duet, which was another highlight of this King Arthur. Throughout King Arthur, the American Bach Soloists, led by Conductor Jeffrey Thomas, gave a vivid orchestral performance of Purcell’s bright instrumental music. They were ably augmented by harpsichordist Elizabeth Crecca, who provided continuo. The American Bach Choir sang beautifully throughout King Arthur as a chorus of Shepherdesses, Soldiers, Spirits, Satyrs, etc. All in all, this was a fine authentic period instrument performance of Purcell’s semi-opera King Arthur, which premiered in London in 1691. A few years earlier, of course, in 1689, Henry Purcell premiered his one true opera, Dido and Aeneas, which is still a frequently performed work in the opera repertoire. Alas, by 1695 Henry Purcell was dead at the young age of 35, thereby depriving England of perhaps her finest musical genius. To honor their great composer, the English buried Henry Purcell in Westminster Abbey.