Begin the Song! A Purcell Academy Paul-Antoine Bénos-Djian & Le Consort

• Henry Purcell (1659 - 1695): Now Does the Glorious Day Appear, Z. 332 "Ode for Queen Mary's Birthday":
• 1 Purcell: Now Does the Glorious Day Appear, Z. 332 "Ode for Queen Mary's Birthday": No. 7, By Beauteous Softness 04:11
• Come, Ye Sons of Art Away, Z. 323:
• 2 Purcell: Come, Ye Sons of Art Away, Z. 323: No. 5, Strike the viol 03:36
• William Croft (1678 - 1727): Ode for the Peace of Utrecht:
• 3 Croft: Ode for the Peace of Utrecht: No. 2, Adagio from "With Noise of Cannon" 02:44
• John Eccles (ca. 1668 - 1735): The Judgement of Paris:
• 4 Eccles: The Judgement of Paris: O Ravishing Delight 03:48
• Semele:
• 5 Eccles: Semele: Thunder is heard at a distance 00:40
• John Blow (1649 - 1708): An Ode on the Death of Mr. Henry Purcell:
• 6 Blow: An Ode on the Death of Mr. Henry Purcell: No. 3, So ceas'd the rival crew 03:24
• Henry Purcell: Now Does the Glorious Day Appear, Z. 332 "Ode for Queen Mary's Birthday":
• 7 Purcell: Now Does the Glorious Day Appear, Z. 332 "Ode for Queen Mary's Birthday": No. 4, Ritornello of the Aria ‟This Does Our Fertile Isle With Glory" 01:10
• The Fairy Queen, Z. 629, Act V:
• 8 Purcell: The Fairy Queen, Z. 629, Act V: O let me weep "The Plaint" 07:45
• Fly, Bold Rebellion, Z. 324:
• 9 Purcell: Fly, Bold Rebellion, Z. 324: No. 7, Be welcome then, great Sir 03:00
• Jeremiah Clarke (1674 - 1707): Come, come along for a dance and a song:
• 10 Clarke: Come, come along for a dance and a song: The Glory of the Arcadian Groves 02:02
• Henry Purcell: Oedipus, Z. 583:
• 11 Purcell: Oedipus, Z. 583: No. 2, Music for a while 03:52
• John Blow: A Second Musical Entertainment perform'd on St. Cecilia's day:
• 12 Blow: A Second Musical Entertainment perform'd on St. Cecilia's day: No. 2, Begin the Song! 01:14
• Henry Purcell: Welcome to all the pleasures, Z. 339:
• 13 Purcell: Welcome to all the pleasures, Z. 339: No. 3, Here the Deities approve 04:23
• Mr. Barrett (ca. 1676 - 1719): How wretched is our fate:
• 14 Barrett: How wretched is our fate 03:20
• William Croft: Ye Tuneful numbers:
• 15 Croft: Ye Tuneful numbers: No. 1, Symphony 03:03
• 16 Croft: Ye Tuneful numbers: No. 3, Air "Tell her I'm wounded" 03:26
• Ode for the Peace of Utrecht:
• 17 Croft: Ode for the Peace of Utrecht: No. 5, Duet "Peace is the song" 03:19
• Henry Purcell: Abdelazer, Z. 570:
• 18 Purcell: Abdelazer, Z. 570: Air in G Minor 01:07
• O Solitude, my sweetest choice!, Z. 406:
• 19 Purcell: O Solitude, my sweetest choice!, Z. 406 06:20
• King Arthur, Z. 628, Act V:
• 20 Purcell: King Arthur, Z. 628, Act V: Fairest isle 03:48
• Now Does the Glorious Day Appear, Z.332 "Ode for Queen Mary's Birthday":
• 21 Purcell: Now Does the Glorious Day Appear, Z.332 "Ode for Queen Mary's Birthday": No. 11, Instrumental Introduction to the Chorus ‟Now, Now with One United Voice" 01:07
• Come, Ye Sons of Art Away, Z. 323:
• 22 Purcell: Come, Ye Sons of Art Away, Z. 323: No. 3, Sound the trumpet 02:50
• Thomas Ravenscroft (ca. 1582 - 1635), Anonymous: The Three Ravens:
• 23 Ravenscroft, Anonymous: The Three Ravens 04:31
• Total Runtime 01:14:40

Info for Begin the Song! A Purcell Academy

For his debut recording, Paul-Antoine Bénos-Djian and his friends from Le Consort invite us to rediscover a 17th-century repertoire for which they have a particular love, drawn from the Golden Age of English music. Half a century after Alfred Deller’s legendary revivals, they have place their art entirely at the service of the sense of wonder they continually experience when confronted by these sublime works.

Paul-Antoine Benos-Dijan, countertenor
Le Consort:
Theotime Langlois de Swarte, violin
Sophie de Bardonneche, Violin
Hanna Salzenstein, Cello
Louise Pierrard, Viola da Gamba
Paul Figuier, Countertenor (Track 22)
Justin Taylor, Baritone (tRacks 17)

Paul-Antoine Benos-Dijan French counter-tenor Paul-Antoine Bénos-Djian is one of the most exciting young vocal talents of our time. Formerly a HSBC Révélation award-winner at the Festival d’Aix-en-Provence, he is a graduate of the Centre de Musique Baroque de Versailles and Conservatoire de Paris.

Highlights of the 2024/25 season include performances of Polifemo as Ulisse at Opéra de Lille and Château de Versailles and Endiminone in La Calisto at the Festival d'Aix-en-Provence. On the concert platform, Paul-Antoine will sing the title role in a tour of Tamerlano under the baton of René Jacobs with the Freiburger Barockorchester, Trasemede in Merope at the Akademie für Alte Musik Berlin, along with performances with Le Poème Harmonique and Café Zimmermann.

He recently made his Moscow debut with the Bolshoi Theatre as Polinesso Ariodante, conducted by Gianluca Capuano, and sang Didymus Theodora with Il Pomo d’Oro, alongside Joyce DiDonato, Lisette Oropesa and Michael Spyres, at Theater an der Wien, Théâtre des Champs-Elysées and La Scala, Milan, with a live recording to follow. Other highlights include Nireno Giulio Cesare, also at the Théâtre des Champs Elysées and Ottone L’incoronazione di Poppea for the Festival d’Aix-en-Provence.