Henry Purcell (1659-1695)
King Arthur
'dramatick opera' in 5 acts
libretto by John Dryden

01 Ouverture
02 Air
03 Symphony

04-09 Act I
10-17 Act II
18-27 Act III
28-30 Act IV
31-40 Act V

41 Chaconne

It was upon hearing King Arthur for the first time, in an interpretation led by Alfred Deller, that Hervé Niquet promised himself to follow Deller’s example. But to follow in Deller’s footsteps, to make a model of him, implied –and Niquet would be reminded of this all his career– not resembling anyone, inventing his own path, his own voice, being unique, exactly like Deller.

After so many years in close contact with King Arthur, Hervé Niquet, together with his original collaborators from the Concert Spirituel and the addition of musicians from the latest generation of Baroque interpreters, can now share with us the feeling of poetic jubilation which has accompanied him from that initial moment of musical revelation. And with the fruitful exchanges among musicians of the English and French courts in mind, Niquet endows Purcell’s orchestra with the brilliant colours of Versailles, calling for a large continuo of seven musicians and an impressive ensemble of flutes, oboes and brass, which accentuate the daring harmonies of the new Orpheus Britannicus.

By inserting French elements into a British work, Niquet situates himself in the tradition of the Goûts Réunis, which he develops in his own personal fashion. He harkens back to the source of the Breton legend, just as the English kings did in claiming more or less direct lineage from the great Arthur...

By accepting and distilling certain French (and Italian) influences from the court of Louis XIII, or more modern ones like Lully, as Purcell did then, Niquet now transforms the old traditional tunes and masks into a “dramatic opera, or drama impregnated with song”. He thus affirms a new and absolutely British musical identity, where the supernatural elements of Shakepeare’s theatre give way, in the final scenes, to a frenzy one might well call... hooliganesque.