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Dmitri SHOSTAKOVICH (1906 - 1975) Hamlet, music for the stage, Op 32 (1931) [48.12] King Lear, Op 58A (1941) [24.58] Louise Winter, mezzo-soprano David Wilson-Johnson, baritone; City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra/Mark Elder Recorded in Symphony Hall, Birmingham, England, 15 June 1994. Notes in English, including English versions of the Russian songs. SIGNUM CLASSICS SIGCD052 [73.03]

Reference Recordings: Shostakovich, Hamlet film score (suite) Op 116 Herrmann, NPO, Decca Phase 4 LP. This recording was something of a surprise. I thought I knew the Hamlet music, but the music I know is the film score music from 1964 and not the 1932 stage music, which was written to accompany a heavily satirical revisionist production in which Hamlet was an obese and evil plotter and Ophelia was an intoxicated vamp. Needless to say this music does not express emotions one would normally associate with Hamlet but is strong on sharply astringent little dances. It is from hearing this early music by Shostakovich that we can surmise what kind of composer he would have turned out to be had the infamous 1936 denunciation of Lady MacBeth of Mtsensk not taken place. With King Lear we get onto more familiar ground. In fact very familiar: the first fool’s song "He Who decides..." is sung to a tune well known in the US as the chorus from "Jingle Bells." However, the original version of this song, written and copyrighted by James Pierpont in West Medford, Massachusetts, in 1857, is different from the version now generally sung, which more like this tune. Perhaps after all it is a traditional Russian song that somehow ended up in the US as a pop tune. Stranger things have happened; look at the Canadian national anthem. The sound on this disk is exceptionally clear; not only was it well mastered at 20 bit resolution but the down-sampling and noise shaping were accomplished with exceptional success. The many cymbal clashes will challenge and demonstrate your tweeters. In both sets of selections the soloists with very English sounding names feature in long stretches of astonishing clear and liquid Russian; see if your accent can match this! Paul Shoemaker Advertising Rates Visitor stats MusicWeb International has over 40,000 Classical CD reviews on offer Discs received Having a problem Donating? Gerard Hoffnung Concerts & The Bricklayer Story   New Releases New Releases   MusicWeb sells the Polish catalogue CDAccord £10.50 post free W-W MusicWeb sells the Arcodiva catalogue £12.00 post free W-W £11.75 post-free world- wide MusicWeb can now offer you discs from the following catalogues: Prices include postage [Acte Préalable £13.50] [Arcodiva £12.00] [Avie from £6.25] [British Music Society £12.00] [CDACCORD from £13.50 ] [ClassicO £12.50] [Hallé from £11] [Heritage £10] [Hortus £14.99 ] [Lyrita ONLY £11.75 ] [Nimbus Special prices] [Northern Flowers £13.50] [REDCLIFFE £11 ] [Sheva £11] [Tactus £11.50 ] [Talent from £12.00 ] [Toccata Classics £10.50 ] Musicweb Special Offers Monthly Best Buys     Google Ads - for information about privacy matters, click here.  Amazon Musicweb International is a participant in the Amazon EU Associates Programme, an affiliate advertising programme designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.co.uk and Amazon.com

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