Shakespeare In Music & Words. Readings from Shakespeare by Christopher Plummer, Sir John Gielgud, Vanessa Redgrave, Peggy Ashcroft, Sir Donald Sinden, etc. and music from works inspired by Shakespeare by Prokofiev, Gounod, Purcell, Verdi, Vaughan Williams, Mendelssohn, etc. Decca 482 5281 (2 CD set). Total Time: 76.00 (CD1) & 47.00 (CD2).
In 2016, a series of cultural and artistic events under the moniker “Shakespeare 400” have been scheduled worldwide to mark the 400th anniversary of the death of British Bard, William Shakespeare, one of the greatest writers who ever lived. Canada, with its world-renowned Stratford Festival, has long been at the forefront of Shakespeare celebrations. This year, Stratford honours the Bard with productions of his plays Macbeth, As You Like It, Henry IV Pts. 1 and 2, Henry V and Richard II, as well as the North American premiere of the play Shakespeare in Love, based on a 1998 British-American hit film of the same name.
As its contribution to “Shakespeare 400”, Decca Records offers the CD “Shakespeare In Music & Words”, a compilation featuring an impressive list of distinguished actors and musicians.
I must confess that I am, in general, wary of compilations. Too often, the record company simply trolls through its catalogue, throwing together any bits and pieces that seem to fit the theme, and leaves it at that. There is evidence of that approach in this new Shakespeare release, which gives us no artist bios, and no texts for the vocal music or for the spoken word excerpts. This lack of information is particularly disappointing in the case of the actors involved. Everyone may know Plummer and Gielgud, but how many folks buying this set will delight at seeing the names Ian Bannen, Richard Pasco, or Tony Church? As it happens, these actors and several others featured on the spoken word CD were featured players with the Royal Shakespeare Company in England. They deserve better.
On the positive side, there is some fine music and there are several first-rate performances on this CD, including the opening piece, “Dance of the Knights” from Prokofiev’s ballet score Romeo and Juliet as performed by Maazel and the Cleveland Orchestra, and Finzi’s “Fear No More the Heat of the Sun” Op. 18 No. 3 for alto saxaphone and string orchestra – a gem of a piece in a wonderful performance. I can’t recall hearing the alto sax played with greater purity than it is in the Finzi, by Amy Dickson.
After a pretty messy performance of the Scherzo from Mendelssohn’s Incidental Music for A Midsummer Night’s Dream – Ernest Ansermet and L’Orchestre de la Suisse Romande are the culprits here – the CD segues to soprano Jennifer Vyvyan singing magnificently in an excerpt from Purcell’s The Fairy Queen, with composer Benjamin Britten conducting his own arrangement. Excerpts from Verdi’s Otello with soprano Renée Fleming, Falstaff with Bryn Terfel, Macbeth with Georg Solti conducting, and a delicious duet from Berlioz’ Béatrice et Bénédict featuring April Cantelo and Helen Watts, Colin Davis conducting, are also featured on this CD.
Craig Armstrong, a much-in-demand film composer these days, has won awards for his score for the Baz Luhrmann-directed Romeo and Juliet (1996) starring Leonardo DiCaprio and Claire Danes; unfortunately, as with so much film music, this score probably works much better in conjunction with the movie. As concert music, Armstrong’s concoction for the Balcony Scene comes off as New Age treacle.
Actor Christopher Plummer gets top billing on this CD set, although he is only heard in one of the eighteen selections. Partnered with Geraldine McEwan, he gives a delightful reading of an excerpt from Act 4 Scene 1 of Much Ado About Nothing. All the spoken word performances on this CD were studio-recorded years ago. Seldom, with a few exceptions, does one get a sense of a live performance. Donald Sinden’s (1923-2014) performance as King Lear, for one, is tremendously powerful, and he is nearly as good in a very different role, that of Prospero in The Tempest. Richard Johnson also has a commanding presence as Antony addressing the crowd after Caesar’s assassination in Julius Caesar. He is also magical in Sonnet 116 “Let Me Not To The Marriage of True Minds.”
John Gielgud ranks among the finest actors who have ever spoken Shakespeare’s words, but he is totally miscast as Othello; he could be reciting names and numbers in a phone book for all the strength and passion he brings to an excerpt from Act 1 Scene 3.
A mixed bag, to be sure, but for a bargain price most Shakespeare fans and music-lovers will find much to enjoy on this CD.
For another take on Shakespeare, adventurous listeners might want to investigate Rufus Wainwright’s Take All My Loves: Shakespeare Sonnets (DG 479 5508). Well-known actors including William Shatner, Helena Bonham Carter and Carrie Fisher speak the lines, and Wainwright sings them. I’ll have more to say about this CD and Wainwright’s opera Prima Donna in a future column, as a preview to Wainwright’s upcoming performances in Toronto.
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