John Blow's Venus and Adonis preceded Purcell's Dido and Aeneas by less than a decade and is often considered the first English opera. For all its undoubted influence on Purcell's masterwork it has a different flavor. Considerable interest lies in the perhaps specifically feminine qualities of its libretto, written by either Anne Finch or Aphra Behn. Blow's musical models were French, with a pomp-filled Lully-style overture, lots of in-group court allusions, and a sober contrapuntal finale that, it's true, doesn't amount to ...
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John Blow's Venus and Adonis preceded Purcell's Dido and Aeneas by less than a decade and is often considered the first English opera. For all its undoubted influence on Purcell's masterwork it has a different flavor. Considerable interest lies in the perhaps specifically feminine qualities of its libretto, written by either Anne Finch or Aphra Behn. Blow's musical models were French, with a pomp-filled Lully-style overture, lots of in-group court allusions, and a sober contrapuntal finale that, it's true, doesn't amount to much compared with Purcell's shattering final lament. However, Blow's work is at its best where he's most individual. The work proceeds without arias or set pieces, seeming to unfold from the perspective of Venus in the classical myth, and it's very sexy in places. Sample the anticipatory duet of Venus and Adonis (track 9) before Venus sends Adonis off to the hunt, diverging from the myth, so that presumably the pleasures will be all the sweeter on his return. (Unfortunately, it...
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Add this copy of Blow: Venus and Adonis to cart. $13.48, like new condition, Sold by Streetlight_Records rated 5.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Santa Cruz, CA, UNITED STATES, published 2017 by WIGMORE HALL LIVE.
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