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Track(s) taken from CDA67450

You spotted snakes

composer
John Christopher Smith (1712-1795)
The Fairies, London, 1755
author of text
William Shakespeare (1564-1616)
A Midsummer Night's Dream II:ii

Catherine Bott (soprano), The Parley of Instruments, Peter Holman (conductor)
Recording details: October 2003
St Jude-on-the-Hill, Hampstead Garden Suburb, London, United Kingdom
Produced by Martin Compton
Engineered by Tony Faulkner
Release date: April 2004
Total duration: 2 minutes 15 seconds
 

Other recordings available for download

Anthony Rolfe Johnson (tenor), Graham Johnson (piano)

Reviews

‘The Parley of Instruments, Rachel Brown, director Peter Holman and the Hyperion recording team all deserve applause’ (Gramophone)

‘With the programme arranged by play rather than chronology, creating an alluring stylistic variety within its 100-or-so-year span, and excellent sound, music for Shakespeare doesn't come much better than this’ (BBC Music Magazine)

‘I'm sure that if it wasn't for the pioneering series of recordings named The English Orpheus we would find ourselves less the richer for the discoveries this series has brought to our notions of English musical heritage’ (The Organ)

‘Programmed with Peter Holman's usual ingenuity and originality’ (Goldberg)
John Christopher Smith, Handel’s pupil and assistant, included some striking settings of well-known lyrics in his two Shakespearean operas The Fairies (1755), derived from A Midsummer Night’s Dream, and The Tempest (1756). ‘You spotted snakes’ creates a magical atmosphere by the use of drones and hushed unison passages.

from notes by Peter Holman © 2004

Other albums featuring this work

Songs to Shakespeare
Anthony Rolfe Johnson (tenor), Graham Johnson (piano)
CDA66480Download only

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