PURCELL. King Arthur—complete. Elsie Morison (soprano), Heather Harper (soprano), Mary Thomas (soprano), John Whitworth (counter tenor), David Galliver (tenor), Wil- fred Brown (tenor), John Cameron (baritone), Hervey Alan (bass), Trevor Anthony (bass) with the St. Anthony Singers, Thurston Dart (harpsichord continuo and organ), Orchestra of the Philomusica of London conducted by Anthony Lewis.

London L'Oiseau-Lyre Mono

OL50176-7; *Stereo SOL60008-9 (two 12 in., 57s. 6d. plus 18s. 9d. P.T.).

King Arthur, by Dryden and Purcell, was first given at the Queen's Theatre, Dorset Garden, in the summer of 1691, and has been sporadically revived, in varying shapes and forms, ever since. It is an opera with dialogue about Arthur's campaign against the heathen Saxons, and in his dedication to the Marquis of Halifax Dryden tells how he mugged up medieval history, altered a good deal of what he wrote and cramped his verses in order "that they may be harmonious to the hearer". However subacid these comments, it is clear that Dryden admired Purcell's skill, for he credits him with having composed the opera with such genius "that he has nothing to fear but an ignorant, ill-judging audience". A great deal of the music is indeed very fine, and this pair of discs, which constitute the first complete recording of the musical numbers, does justice to Purcell, both stereophonically and monophonically.

Anthony Lewis has based his text on that established in 1928, from a formidable number of manuscript and printed sources, by Dennis Arundell, and published as Vol. 26 of the Purcell Society. There are a few small changes in both literary and musical text, and more considerable ones in the order of items, especially towards the end of the work. To assist those who wish to use the Purcell Society's score, I shall give page numbers where appropriate. Several of the soloists have more than one role allotted to them, and in certain cases the solos are rather vaguely described in the score, so that "a Sylvan", "a Briton", or merely "verse" may be sung by any suitable singer.

According to the stage directions in the printed libretto the opera ends with a Grand Dance. The only piece answering to this description is the Chaconne printed on p. 1, and it has been correctly transferred to the end, where it forms a splendid musical climax to the entire work. Side I accordingly begins with the Second Music (Overture—Air—Overture) on p. 7. The graceful phrasing of the Air gives an early indication that Purcell's notation is not to be slavishly followed, and this is certainly encouraging for the listener. Act 1 starts with the Sacrificial Scene, in which the cannibal-minded Grimbald (Hervey Alan) relishes the thought of breakfasting off six Saxon serfs. Priests and priestesses interject votes of thanks to Woden, and the scene becomes very lively and dramatic, with chorus answering the individual verses (Morison, Whitworth, Galliver). David

Galliver's voice is a little unsteady, but this enables him to sing the word "neighed" with convincing onomatopoeia. Hervey Alan sings his parentheses with considerable aplomb in the line "A third (of Friesland breed was he) to Woden's wife . . ." and both Elsie Morison and John Whitworth make notable contributions to the build-up of excitement and fervour. The alto solo "I call you all to Woden's Hall" is assigned to a tenor (David Galliver) and the result is not too successful. The part lies very high and even touches a top B flat. In my opinion the right singer for this section would have been Wilfred Brown, who does not appear until Act 2; his easy yet sonorous high register is unrivalled in coping with the kind of high-tenor/low-alto parts that abound in Purcell's music. The arioso and chorus "Come if you dare", sung by a belligerent Briton (David Galliver) and his comrades-in-arms is a shade too fast for my liking, though the battle scene is skilfully evoked by the breathless nature of the tempo.

In Act II a very imaginative use is made of stereo in the Spirit Scene. Grimbald, disguised as a shepherd, is trying to lead Arthur and his followers astray, but Merlin's familiar — Philadell (Elsie Morison) — whispers "Hither, this way bend". Her chorus of spirits take up this tune, in Purcell's most engaging trippity rhythm, but lo and behold horrid old Grimbald summons up his spirits and they (from the right-hand speaker) exhort Arthur to bend in their direction. Grimbald pitches in with a song urging Arthur to hurry on and ignore the "moonborn elf", and the rival choruses have another go at "bending" poor Arthur. Eventually Philadell wins and Grimbald disappears, in high dudgeon and low spirits, through a trapdoor to Hades. Soli and semichorus join in a "Come follow me" invitation to Arthur. A Pastoral Scene follows, in which Kentish shepherds and shepherdesses dance and sing before Emmeline and Matilda. Wilfred Brown's "How blest are shepherds" is exquisitely sung, with beautifully-controlled line and timbre. Before the riposte of the Shepherd Boys (Mary Thomas and Heather Harper) there is a delightful Symphony with pastoral orchestration of recorders and oboes. This is because the men offer their flutes to the women, who refuse them. As the Boys point out, "But a little after toying, Women have the shot to pay", and marriage contracts are promptly produced.

Act 3 begins with the famous Frost Scene, led up to in the dialogue by a scene in which Emmeline complains to Arthur that Oswald and Osmond persist in making love to her. But Arthur is too busy hatching plots with Merlin, so there is nothing left for Emmeline to do but freeze off Osmond. He is, of course, indignant but he hits upon the idea of striking the ground with his wand and changing the scene to one of snow and ice, just to show the luckless Emmeline how love can still be made in a cold climate. Cupid (Elsie Morison) exhorts the Cold Genius to wake up, stretch and shake the snow off his extremities, which he obligingly does to the sound of strings playing tremolando e sul ponticello. The orchestra brings this off with tremendous, indeed tremulous success, and stereophonic shivers are sent down the spine, so much so that Sibelius recollected seems positively tepid. Trevor Anthony, as the Cold Genius, contrives to shiver and shake while yet staying more or less on the note, so that nothing is lost of Purcell's extraordinary harmonic colours. In Cupid's next song, the line "What dost thou mean, by freezing here?" is changed to "What dost thou dream of, freezing here?" which I think is less effective and follows rather inconsequentially on the words "Thou doting fool, forbear". In any case, the music should have been changed from long-short ("mean, by") to short-long ("dream of,"); at the moment Purcell's music puts the comma in the wrong place. The ensuing dance and chorus of Cold People (I understand the recording was made in Walthamstow in mid-January) sounds almost uncomfortably convincing.

Act 4 is fairly short and shows Arthur in a wood, beset by temptation, but protected by the faithful Philadell, who can (says the libretto) "with Merlin's wand, expose the evil spirits". Actually what happens is that the spirits expose themselves, for as Arthur goes towards a bridge two Syrens rise up and invite him to "Come bathe with us an hour or two, Come naked in for we are so". This duet is charmingly sung by Mary Thomas and Heather Harper, who nevertheless do not quite succeed in seducing the virtuous Arthur. The Passacaglia is well played, but seems to me a little deficient in ornamentation. The duet for a Nymph and a Sylvan (Elsie Morison and John Cameron) is particularly happy in its blend of tone and sentiment. For the Act 4 Trumpet Tune (p.135) the lilting one on p.162 is substituted. The baritone solo of Trevor Anthony (Aeolus)—"Ye blustering brethren" sounds mightily impressive against a background of bombinating strings. An organ bursts into the Symphony on p.142, where the suggested trio of trumpet, violins, and oboe is replaced, very effectively, by trumpet and two solo violins. After the brief chorus reference to the export trade ("Foreign lands thy fish are tasting") there is a jump to p.154, a smoothly sung trio for male voices. "Your hay it is mowed", though written for a tenor, sounds most sonorous as a baritone solo (John Cameron) and the simple but desirable harmonization of the attached chorus was an excellent idea. In "Fairest Isle" Venus (Heather Harper) is perfectly happy and acceptable, but Lewis alters Arundell's top A-flat to A-natural. It may be that I am more used to the sound of A-flat, but it always strikes me as being more Purcellian, even more English.

We then go back to p.149 for the duet "You say 'tis love", where I hoped for a suggestion of dialogue by directional emphasis in stereo; but there was none that I could detect. The Trumpet Tune (p.135) then appears, in martial mood and is followed by a rousing chorus (p.159) "Our natives not alone appear To court the martial prize". As a grand finale, the Chaconne is played, and the opera comes to an end, with Arthur victorious, a display of the Order of the Garter and Britain all set for Social Security. The singing and playing throughout is of a generally high order, and both the mono and stereo versions sound excellent, with good perspective in the latter and some ingenious use (in Act 2) of port-starboard alternation. If you like Purcell, arid there is no earthly reason why you shouldn't, I advise you to acquire this pair of records and get to know something of our pagan forefathers. The handsome album contains complete texts of both spoken and sung portions of the opera, together with an excellent note by Nigel Fortune. D.S.