High Quality Content by WIKIPEDIA articles! The Fairy-Queen (1692; Purcell catalogue number Z.629) is a masque or semi-opera by Henry Purcell; a "Restoration spectacular". The libretto is an anonymous adaptation of William Shakespeare`s wedding comedy A Midsummer Night`s Dream. First performed in 1692, The Fairy-Queen was composed three years before Purcell`s death at the age of 35. Following his death, the score was lost and only rediscovered early in the twentieth century.