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Blow - Venus & Adonis (1683 opera) - New London Consort, Philipp Pickett, dir. (Recorded in 1992)

Джон БЛОУ (1649 – 1708)
ВЕНЕРА И АДОНИС
опера в 3 актах с Прологом*
1683

Либретто – Энн КИНГСМИЛЛ

1     Overture     4:28
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
    The Cupid's Lesson
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

Венера - Кэтрин БОТТ, сопрано - Venus – Catherine BOTT, soprano
Купидон – Либби КРЭБТРИ, сопрано - Cupid – Libby CRABTREE, soprano
Адонис – Майкл ДЖОРДЖ, баритон - Adonis – Michael GEORGE, baritone

Хористы Школы при Вестминстерском аббатстве
Хормейстер - Мартин НИРИ
New London Consort
Дирижёр - Филипп ПИККЕТТ - Philipp Pickett, dir.

Продолжительность:  57’05”
Запись 1992 г., сентябрь

*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.

Synopsis

Prologue
Cupid addresses assorted shepherds and shepherdesses, accusing them of infidelity, and invites them to enjoy true pastoral pleasures. This short scena is preceded by a French overture.

Act 1
The couple are resting on a couch, and Venus, accompanied by obbligato recorder, is toying with Adonis's sexual anticipation. Just before she gives in, hunting music is heard, and she encourages him to leave her and join the chase. The huntsmen intrude and sing of an enormous boar that is causing severe problems; thus goaded, Adonis leaves.

Act 2
Cupid is studying the art of love, learning from his mother how to strike love into human hearts. He in turn teaches this lesson to a group of Little Cupids. Cupid advises his mother that the way to make Adonis love her more is to "use him very ill." They then call the Graces, the givers of beauty and charm, to give honor to the goddess of love.

Act 3
Venus and Cupid are shown struck by grief. Adonis is brought in, dying from the wound given to him by the boar. He duets with Venus, and dies in her arms. As a lament she begins a funeral march, and the refrain is taken up by the pastoral characters (in reality, Venus' courtiers). The opera ends with the G minor chorus "Mourn for thy servant", a strong example of elegiac counterpoint.
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