John Eliot Gardiner will celebrate his 80th birthday on 20th April 2023. On 7th April, we are releasing a 64-CD boxset including his complete Erato Recordings, and are also celebrating this wonderful conductor with two of his most emblematic albums to be released on vinyl: Purcell's King Arthur and Handel's Water Music. As John Eliot Gardiner converted his Monteverdi Orchestra to early instruments in the mid-1970s and renamed it the English Baroque Soloists, he engaged his magnificent instrumentalists, choir and a host of first-class soloists in the most emblematic works by "the Greatest Genius we [England] ever had": Henry Purcell! The reception was unanimously enthusiastic and led Diapason magazine to say: "Gardiner's reading of Purcell, dramatic, hyper-refined, sometimes burning, overwhelming, at all times enchanting, cannot escape the discography of the enlightened music lover. Purcell himself is there!" King Arthur was first staged at the Dorset Garden Theatre in London in mid-1691. It proved to be the most popular and enduring of all Purcell's stage works, and enjoyed revivals throughout the eighteenth century and beyond.

Track List

1. King Arthur Z. 628: Overture
2. King Arthur Z. 628: Air
3. King Arthur Z. 628: Overture (Reprise)
4. King Arthur Z. 628 Act 1: Trio and Chorus. "Woden First to Thee" - "To Woden Our Defender Thanks We Render" (Saxon Priest Priestess Chorus)
5. King Arthur Z. 628 Act 1: Song. "The Lot Is Cast and Tanfan Pleas'd" (Priestess)
6. King Arthur Z. 628 Act 1: Chorus. "Brave Souls to Be Renown'd in Story" (Chorus)
7. King Arthur Z. 628 Act 1: Song and Chorus. "I Call You All to Woden's Hall" (Priestess Chorus)
8. King Arthur Z. 628 Act 1: Song and Chorus. "Come If You Dare" - First Act Tune (British Warrior Chorus)
9. King Arthur Z. 628 Act 2: Song and Chorus. "Hither This Way This Way Bend" (Philidel Chorus)
10. King Arthur Z. 628 Act 2: Song. "Let Not a Moonborn Elf Mislead Ye" (Grimbald)
11. King Arthur Z. 628 Act 2: Chorus. "Hither This Way This Way Bend" (Chorus)
12. King Arthur Z. 628 Act 2: Song and Chorus. "Come Follow Me" (Philidel Chorus)
13. King Arthur Z. 628 Act 2: Song and Chorus. "How Blest Are Shepherds" (Tenor Chorus)
14. King Arthur Z. 628 Act 2: Duet. "Shepherd Shepherd Leave Decoying" (Shepherdesses)
15. King Arthur Z. 628 Act 2: Chorus. "Come Shepherds Lead Up a Lively Measure" - Hornpipe (Chorus)
16. King Arthur Z. 628 Act 2: Second Act Tune. Air
17. King Arthur Z. 628 Act 3: Song. "What Ho! Thou Genius of This Isle" (Cupid)
18. King Arthur Z. 628 Act 3: Prelude While Cold Genius Rises - Frost Scene. "What Power Art Thou" (Cold Genius)
19. King Arthur Z. 628 Act 3: Song. "What Ho! Thou Genius of This Isle" - Song. "Thou Doting Fool" (Cupid)
20. King Arthur Z. 628 Act 3: Song. "Great Love I Know Thee Now" (Cold Genius)
21. King Arthur Z. 628 Act 3: Song. "No Part of My Dominion" (Cupid)
22. King Arthur Z. 628 Act 3: Prelude - Chorus. "See See We Assemble" - Dance (Chorus)
23. King Arthur Z. 628 Act 3: Ritornello. "Tis I That Have Warm'd Ye" - Chorus. "See See We Assemble"
24. King Arthur Z. 628 Act 3: Duet. "Sound a Parley" - Ritornello - Chorus. "Tis Love That Has Warm'd Us" (Cupid Cold Genius Chorus)
25. King Arthur Z. 628 Act 3: Third Act Tune. Hornpipe
26. King Arthur Z. 628 Act 4: Duet. "Two Daughters of This Aged Stream Are We" (Syrens)
27. King Arthur Z. 628 Act 4: Song and Chorus. "How Happy the Lover" - Duet and Chorus. "For Love Every Creature" ; Chorus Trio. "In Vain Are Our Graces" (Tenor Sylvan Nymphs Chorus)
28. King Arthur Z. 628 Act 4: Fourth Act Tune. Air
29. King Arthur Z. 628 Act 5: Trumpet Tune
30. King Arthur Z. 628 Act 5: Song. "Ye Blust'ring Brethren of the Skies" (Aeolus)
31. King Arthur Z. 628 Act 5: Symphony
32. King Arthur Z. 628 Act 5: Song and Chorus. "Round Thy Coast" (Nereid Pan Chorus)
33. King Arthur Z. 628 Act 5: Trio. "For Folded Flocks and Fruitful Plains" (Trio)
34. King Arthur Z. 628 Act 5: Song and Chorus. "Your Hay It Is Mow'd" (Peasant Chorus)
35. King Arthur Z. 628 Act 5: Song. "Fairest Isle" (Venus)
36. King Arthur Z. 628 Act 5: Duet. "You Say 'Tis Love" (He She)
37. King Arthur Z. 628 Act 5: Trumpet Tune. Warlike Consort
38. King Arthur Z. 628 Act 5: Song and Chorus. "Saint George" (Honour Chorus)
39. King Arthur Z. 628 Act 5: Chaconne