Fairest Aisle from King Arthur, Z628
I am Come to Lock All Fast from The Fairy Queen, Z629
If Love's a Sweet Passion from The Fairy Queen
Overture from The Indian Queen, Z630
She Loves and She Confesses Too, Z413
A New Ground, Z339/3
Why Should Men Quarrel? from The Indian Queen
Curtain Tune from Timon of Athens, Z632
Music for a While from Oedipus, Z583
Third Act Tune: Hornpipe from King Arthur
O! Fair Cedaria, Z402
Chacony, Z730
Trio Sonata in G major, Op. 5 No. 4, HWV399
I. Allegro
IIa. A tempo ordinario
IIb. Allegro, non presto
III. Passacaille
IV. Gigue: Presto
V. Menuet: Allegro moderato
Silete venti, HWV242
I. Symphonia: Silete venti (Silence, winds)
II. Aria: Dulcis amor, Jesu care (Sweet love, dear Jesus)
III. Accompagnato: O fortunata anima (O fortunate soul)
IV. Aria Date serta, date flores (Offer garlands, offer flowers)
V. Presto: Alleluia
Purcell & Handel: Miriam Allan & Ironwood
This beautifully packaged 1CD digipack contains a stunning collection of English works performed by Australia’s premiere period chamber ensemble, Ironwood and the magnetic UK-based soprano, Miriam Allan. Featuring best-selling tracks such as Music for a While, If Love’s a Sweet Passion and Fairest Isle by Purcell, and chamber works by Handel including Silete venti.
Born in Newcastle (Australia), Miriam Allan has been based in England since 2003. She has been a soloist with leading orchestral and choral organisations all over the world: the Monteverdi Choir and English Baroque Soloists, London Baroque, Les Arts Florissants, Auckland Philharmonia, Concerto Copenhagen, Il Fondamento, Gewandhaus Chamber Choir, Leipzig Chamber Orchestra, Concerto Köln, ChorWerk Ruhr, Pinchgut Opera, Australian Chamber Orchestra, Chacona and Arcadia. She has been fortunate to work with many of the finest directors and conductors, including John Eliot Gardiner, Lars Ulrik Mortensen, Laurence Cummings, William Christie and Roy Goodman. Miriam Allan appears on numerous recordings, highlights among which include The Fairy Queen and Dardanus with Pinchgut Opera, The Wonders of the World, Mozart’s Requiem and Handel’s Messiah, Joshua, Israel in Egypt and Belshazzar.
She made her debut with Glyndebourne Festival Opera in Purcell’s The Fairy Queen in 2009, continuing with that production to Paris, Caen and New York the following year. Recent engagements have included a series of concerts of madrigals by Monteverdi with Les Arts Florissants, performances with the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra, the role of Costanza in Vivaldi’s Griselda with Pinchgut Opera in Sydney (available on CD on the Pinchgut Live label), and her debut appearances with the Bach Collegium Japan.
Miriam Allan - Soprano
Rachael Beesley & Julia Fredersdorff - violin
Nicole Forsyth - viola
Daniel Yeadon - cell0/viola da gamba
Kirsty McCahon - double bass
Neal Peres Da Costa - Harpsichord and Organ
Kirsten Barry & Adam Masters - oboe
Simon Rickard - bassoon
“Allan’s voice is light, eminently suited to the chamber format, with a clear and ringing higher register but with an emotional depth and warmth that reaches across to the audience. Her presence on stage is magnetic.”
— Australian Stage, 2009