Search MusicWeb Here Custom Search selling Internationally

aBantock 4CDs £16 post-free   2CDs £9 post-free New! CRD £9 post-free

Searching The Site Monthly index Recordings of the Year Label index Masterwork index Series index Search engines Review Archive Classical Downloads Jazz Concerts Nostalgia Books Film music Resources Composer pages National discographies Piano trio survey Online books Arthur Butterworth's columns Philip Scowcroft's British light music collection Interviews Programme notes Other material Articles Seen & Heard Jazz reviews Message Board Announcements About Us About Us Contact Us Contributors What they say about us Visitor stats Site Map

Founder: Len Mullenger

Editor-in-Chief: Rob Barnett

BUY NOW  Crotchet   AmazonUK   AmazonUS

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 Gerard Hoffnung CDs Advertising on Musicweb Donate and get a free CD New Releases Musicweb sells the following labels Acte Préalable Altus Arcodiva Atoll CDAccord CRD Hallé Hortus Lyrita Nimbus Nimbus Alliance Prima voce Red Priest Redcliffe Retrospective Saydisc Sheva Sterling Toccata Classics Follow us on Twitter Subscribe to our free weekly review listing sample Sample: See what you will get Editorial Board MusicWeb International Editor in Chief    Rob Barnett Seen & Heard Editor Emeritus    Bill Kenny Editor in Chief    Vacant MusicWeb Webmaster    David Barker MusicWeb Founder    Len Mullenger

Return to Index

Reviews from previous months Join the mailing list and receive a hyperlinked weekly update on the discs reviewed. details We welcome feedback on our reviews. Please use the Bulletin Board Please paste in the first line of your comments the URL of the review to which you refer.