≈ History ≈ {adapted from The Grove Dictionary, All Music Guide & The Rough Guide to Opera} The successful 1674 premiere on the London stage of Shakespeare's "The Tempest" in an elaborate production by actor-manager Thomas Betterton and playwright Thomas Shadwell replete with numerous songs and dances gave birth to the congenially English genre of "semi-opera". The term suggests a synthesis between the spoken word and music in the manner of the German Singspiel, but in practice we usually encounter a set of musical episodes which are inserted directly into an existing spoken play. These self-contained scenes usually do not involve the main characters. In essence, they act as complementary divertissements for the main action. While Henry Purcell (1659-95) was not the only English composer to write semi-opera, his ″cycle″ of five extended pieces, starting with "Dioclesian" (1690) and "King Arthur" (1691), is usually seen as the highpoint of the genre. The work in question - ″The Fairy-Queen″ {based on "A midsummer night's dream"} - was first performed at the Queen's Theatre, Dorset Garden in London by the United Company in 1692. While semi-opera was not extinguished by the composer′s death, the introduction of Italian opera in 1705-6 and the ultimate decision of the Lord Chamberlain to divide traditional plays and operas between, respectively, Drury Lane and the Haymarket effectively sunk the genre. ≈ Narrative & Music ≈ ″The Fairy Queen″ does not include any of Shakespeare's text, instead short masques are presented in each act. These episodes - ranging from a comic sketch for a drunken poet and the fairies in Act I and a perfectly serene nocturnal scene in Act II to an extravagant pageant in a Chinese garden in Act V - are related to the play only on a symbolic level, but the music is enchantingly lovely, though without its parent work to provide the necessary context it dissolves into a series of disconnected scenes. The aria in question - the well-known Plaint - ideally reflects the peculiarities of its surroundings. One might assume from its gravely tragic tone that it is sung by a key character of the play but the piece is actually relegated to Laura, a generic nymph, who tearfully recalls a lost love just after the goddess Juno "appears in a heavenly chariot drawn by peacocks" and blesses the principal quartet of lovers in a jubilant Epithalamium {some versions of the libretto have Juno herself sing the aria}. Thus, the Plaint effectively has no true dramatic motivation {it was, in fact, added in 1693 to cover the change of scene between Juno's entrance and the Chinese episode} and presents a somewhat problematic dissonance of tone... And yet its musical perfection is undeniable. In the Plaint we encounter an unusually fluid structure which seemingly incorporates the traditional da capo design and a long recitative-like coda, though, perhaps, ″tripartite number″ is a better description. The A section develops over two tearful statements of the main haunting theme, the first - strikingly left unfinished {0:23}, the second - concluded with heart-wrenching sighing figures on the word ″forever″ {0:54}, as the nymph refuses to renounce her melancholic state. The orchestration - a simple continuo line and a long, seven-bar ground bass - initially seems transparent but immediately after the singer completes the first stanza, a solo oboe {in the original version - a solo violin} tearfully continues the line {0:36}. The aria, in fact, becomes an involved duet between the soprano and the oboe, where the obbligato continues {1:32, 5:02} or replicates {1:17, 2:47, 5:27} the vocal line, bringing unity to the fragmented statements of the nymph. The two phrases of the B section depict in effective word painting sequences the restlessness {1:47} and utter sorrow of Laura {2:26}. A warm major interlude for the oboe {2:03}, suggesting the happier memories the nymph still holds, only underlines the poignancy of the Plaint. The A section is repeated with the exclusion of the opening continuo measures {3:09}. The C section disrupts the flow of the ground bass, as the woman reflects that she will possibly never see her lover {4:36}, the word ″never″ becoming an idée fixe, as the final measures of the final measures of the aria overflow into a desolate recollection of the main theme {5:12}. ≈ Score ≈ The complete score of the air can be easily found on IMSLP {P. 128-32}: http://javanese.imslp.info/files/imglnks/usimg/4/44/IMSLP154934-PMLP237007-Purcell_-_The_Fairy_Queen_VS_Sibley.1802.17365.pdf ≈ Recording ≈ The 1993 Virgin Classics recording with the London Classical Players under Roger Norrington is a full-bloodied, richly dramatic rendition of the score with a veritable highpoint being reached in the veristic account by Lorraine Hunt of the Plaint. Hope you'll enjoy =).