H. Purcell - The Fairy Queen "O Let Me Weep" Sylvia McNair

[PrimaRagazza]

Hauntingly beautiful, omg .. if i didn't hate the "voice of an angel" cliche so much I'd say it .. it's like effortless floating, with perfect diction, not one single note wrong .. absolute perfection ..

[IamAlessandro1]

fantastic, wonderfull every single note of it, just a masterpiece, also many thanks to mr Harnoncourt. Tnx 4uploading :p

[MrPtroll]

Love her too, thanx für the score

[MrPtroll]

love her too, thanx for the score

[Ladadadadaxoxo10]

1:50

[Abigail13406]

Extraordinary.

[Evilbitch666]

. . . Oh my god, the voice of an angel! The way she sings the notes, I'm enchanted.

[nicolkidmanlover5201]

Sheet music free pls? <3 I love this piece

[SecondAgeOfReason]

wtf how do you trill like that?

[Evilbitch666]

@SecondAgeOfReason I'm asking myself the same thing! I'd love to learn, i can kinda do it, but need better practice.

[rosacobos]

Thanks a lot for this great work putting the score in here..is a delicious experience to follow the parts while listening..this is a wonder..Rosa

[soulreplicant]

Thanks for this! Beautiful rendering......heavenly singing. Certainly a more than a few shivers delivered. And then around the 7 minute mark she explodes. Phenomenal.....

[Lucygeno]

love it!!!!

[jthameschoir08]

Such a powerful song. Gosh she brings the sound in this to life. Its so beautiful. Even I was weeping as I listened to her voice sing " I shall never see him more".

[dakwa1]

When she did this type of singing she is so perfect. Beautiful!

[DramForASong]

wow...

[NuranB]

Ooo let me weep, forever weep... perfectt...

[simonidamiletic]

Per il mio modestissimo parere è la migliore esecuzione di quest'aria che si possa sentire sul youtobe..la voce e il modo di cantare è sublime.

Bravissima! Che meraviglia:-)

[beathcox]

I love this work and I loved the performance. The writing so simple and restrained.

Violin, cello, harpsichord and voice..working together .they create great beauty and communicate a deep sense of sorrow and loss.

[gavinfarkas]

The bass in the a section is very chromatic thus resembling dido's lament.

[huggylove1]

the tremelo at 1:47 just kills me!

[ANGLOSAXONGOD]

@huggylove1 You are so right!

[ElectraDaae]

Hey! I'm trying to find the sheet music for this song in this key! Where did you find it????

[27Cheesy91]

Perfect.

[LutzDerLurch]

I almost cried....because of the Quality :(

[Mrsvragica666]

Oh, Purcell is incredible...just incredible

[amerthil]

from the amount of bad singers i have endured singing is hard PERIOD. less vagina more abbuse is the way to train them and train them young break them early break them five times then let them realize you led them that far the wrong direction before they are 16. that is how beautiful art is born

[huggylove1]

that tremolo at 1:46 is amazing!

[angelgl]

@evanfan18 - As a voice teacher and singer I can agree that she sounds amazing HOWEVER, I feel a need to correct some of your assumptions.

First, She isn't straining any muscles. If she was, she a) could be singing, and b) would have some serious vocal health issues.

Second, It is not necessarily more difficult to sing slow that fast. It's completely individual and every single voice is different. Some singers find fast easier, others slow. ANY GOOD SINGER CAN SING BOTH WITH MINIMUM EFFORT.

[asianpeterson24]

@djorkangel like steamy silk

[profesorsergio]

So superlative. Favourite!. My coussin OlgA sings this aria too...Cheers, Sergio.

[evanfan18]

@maxxis: I'm very sorry to be NOT born in the oooh so great USA or in GB. So I entread your forgiveness. Thanks.

[KriBlackRoson]

beautiful

[titusbeertsen]

Beautiful piece, but it seems to me that those chords and intervals could have been pretty daring at the time...

[rainbowscustard]

I can hear a bit of dido's lament in here. . .

[littlebrabbel]

WOOOW!

[Raichu234]

absolutely beautiful :D x

[soprano2189]

What a magnificent aria. Beautiful, I want to sing this. So passionate and sad. Love It!

[pianomags]

I adore this and McNair. Such warmth, so full of emotion. My technical brain switches off when I hear her, Diana Damrau and Dan Taylor and I am SO GRATEFUL to them for the space they give me to just enjoy,

[xamaranto]

Very beautiful

[Elizium1970]

for me - perfect!!!

[cousinjk]

Lovely, but the keyboardist is a bit distracting with the overly capricious realization.

[Edelien]

This is a much slower version than Kirkbys, which makes it easier for the singer to sing.

I think this is a good version of the song, since I prefer it when it's sung softly, and not in a full-soprano voice.

[evanfan18]

So slower you sing, so more you'll have to strain every muscle to keep tight. So imho it is way more difficult to sing slow than to sing fast. The way she speaks the "let me" gets me shivers everytime. I love it and the way she does it. Great.

[magicminion]

You're right, but I don't think straining your muscles is a good way to think about it. That creates tension, and that's never what a singer wants. You have to have more control over your body and your air when it's slow, which is what makes it so much harder.

[maxxis202]

@evanfan18 "*The* slower you sing, **THE** more you'll have to strain . . ." Please use proper English next time. Thank you my friend.

[BigglesWatch]

@evanfan18

I disagree. Singing slowly is not more difficult than singing quickly if you have good breath control and sing through the phrase to the end.

[AmaryllisJo]

@evanfan18 I think I know what you mean - sustaining notes with good pitch has it's particular challenges, especially when singing softly. But really, in classical singing straining every muscle or "keeping tight" is pretty much the opposite of what we are trying to achieve

[LolaChanxD]

Sylvia McNair controls her voice much better than Emma Kirkby in this piece, and passes better and beautifully the feeling of melancholy...

Great music, great voice.

[Estelazul]

Impresionante¡¡nuestro amigo Purcell

[Aniretak205]

While I prefer Kirkby because of her pureness and impeccable diction (among other things), Ms. McNair gives a stunning interpretation here. Gorgeous tone, lush dynamics, and heart rendering sentiment.

I want this recording now! :D

[amalie486]

I love it soo much! i'll start crying every time I hear it ô_ô

[1KIRIX]

!!!!!!!!!You are godness!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

so softly,

so pure in your soul and voise and so deep passion........... Emma Kirkby shall never. never.never, perform this song like you.

[1KIRIX]

THANK YOU!

[mannekevanhout]

Purcell is my favorite componist I love his music and the one who sings this has a really good voice!!xx

[ALONSOMUDARRA]

Well done....

good old Henry...lives ,forever..!!

[gijselsstraat]

THIS IS BEAUTIFULL!

[Heartlessiceboy]

best version ever

[yaoyianer1]

The most beautiful version I've heard. A ethereal voice!

[shriekingpiglet]

This is one of the most awesome comments ever. Thank you.

[EmilyGreene1984]

This is so beautiful and very heartbreaking to listen to.

[gmlch]

i love purcell! (and i am NOT an opera lover in general)

[diuscorvus]

I LOVE the phrasing of 'sigh' around 3:40ish. Beautiful!

[Lohengrin]

beauuuuuuuuuutiful :p

[Henkee999]

A tündérkirálynő ez egyik kedvenc darabom, csodálatos és sejtelmes hangulatú, nagyon szép....

/This is my favourite/

[gypzyjz]

There's NOBODY that can sing Purcell like Sylvia!!!! :)

[ShakespeareFlix]

Magnificent. Thanks for posting this. I'm adding a link to it on ShakespeareFlix.

Bardprof

[tancrede75]

thank you very much for this post and the detailed note. This music is certainly one of the greatest thing ever produced. so simple and so complex! many thanks again.

[isabelbleuet]

Il n'y a pas de mots...

[margotlorena]

purcell's songs are magnificent... and so is sylvia.. I love her voice...

[ninjanain]

magnifique

[cuicuimusic]

i love that song. deller's version is soooo nice too. Just listened to it again and he changed the gender from he/his to she/her...

[codonauta]

Ah, Sylvia McNair. I love her voice.