. Purcell composed music and songs for the semi-opera The Fairy Queen (1692). The Fairy Queen was an adaptation of William Shakespeare’s A Midsummer’s Night Dream. Although The Fairy Queen was considered a “semi-opera”, it required many performers. The performance consisted of singers, dancers, and actors. The Fairy Queen, first performed at London’s Dorset Garden Theatre in 1692, was so extravagant that additional performances had to be scheduled the following year to cover the expenses of the performances(Worldofopera.org, para 3 & 4).
Purcell’s The Fairy Queen explored a sense of comedy but also showed his passion for music and displayed some of his finest work. The Fairy Queen was composed three years before Purcell’s death at the age