Purcell: Bess of Bedlam | Mad Bess | Marianne Lihannah (Mezzo)| Pete Rosser (Piano)

Описание: This is a video clip from the mezzo soprano Marianne Lihannah's ATCL diploma concert in singing from Trinity College London. She is accompanied by the wonderful pianist Pete Rosser.
The is the first song of my recital programme, so there was some errors with the video and the sound is less good. This was filmed 4 years ago and finally now I decided to publicize in spite of the poor sound quality etc.


‘Bess of Bedlam’
Fascination with madness caught the fancy of songwriters and playwrights and inspired art treasures.
This aria belongs to a genre called ‘The Mad Song’ (Miniature Baroque Cantatas).
They consist of alternating sections of varying mood and tempo reflecting passionate delusions.

Mad songs were inspired by 17th and 18th C nobility’s relationship with the city’s insane asylum.
Bethlem Royal Hospital founded in 1247 in Britain, the first hospital for the mentally ill in the world.
"Bedlam" is a bastardization of "Bethlehem" and came to its modern meaning of chaos and disorder
through its association with the hospital. The conditions were just as deplorable as you might imagine.
Treatment was little better than restraints. A tip to the warden permitted direct interaction with the inmates
of Bedlam.
Patients released from the hospitals were abandoned outside the hospital grounds.
The picture of our homeless today is, unfortunately, all too similar.

Bess is driven insane by grief for her dead lover. She imagines the hospital grounds as a
flower-filled paradise with gods and fairies.
This piece is sung through the voice of two different characters, Bess, a patient looking out over the grounds
of the hospital and imagining it as Elysium, the paradise of the dead in Greek mythology, and a narrator.

"Bess of Bedlam" by Henry Purcell takes place at Bethlem Royal Hospital, founded in 1247 in Britain,
which is widely considered the first hospital for the mentally ill in the world. The word,
"bedlam" is a bastardization of "Bethlehem" and came to its modern meaning of chaos and disorder
through its association with the hospital. The conditions were just as deplorable as you might imagine.
Treatment was little better than restraints. During the 18th century, members of the public could pay a
penny to look into the patient's cells, and entry was free the first Tuesday of every month.
Patients released from the hospitals were abandoned outside the hospital grounds.
The picture of our homeless today is, unfortunately, all too similar.
Ownership of the hospital changed hands throughout the centuries and moved locations more than once.
Now, it is part of a trust of six hospitals, which still provide mental health services and conduct research.

Enjoy this fantastic song,
Marianne

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