The melody of the „Rondeau“ from Abdelazer is one of the best-known tunes today and everyone can sing it. If we try to find out, who is the composer, we come across the name of Benjamin Britten whose symphonic variations from A young person’s guide to the orchestra are world-famous. It is, however, not Britten’s composition: it is Henry Purcell’s.

During the last five years of his short life Henry Purcell wrote more than 43 so-called ‘stage musics’ for theatre. In his final year in 1695, he composed the music for the tragedy Abdelazer by Aphra Behn. The tragedy Abdelazer tells the story about a slave who becomes king after many intrigues and murders. Unfortunately, only the first part of Purcell’s flamboyant suite has survived.

For their recording Mathias Kleiböhmer and his orchestra Le Phénix join forces with Linard Bardill (German narration) and John Holloway (English narration) and tell the story of Abdelazer, using the surviving pieces of the suite as well as a selection of Purcell’s stage music that was written shortly before Abdelazer.