“Is it not strange that sheep’s guts could hail souls out of men’s bodies?”

– William Shakespeare, “Much Ado About Nothing”

On the eve of the observation of Shakespeare’s birthday (April 23, 1564), hang on to your soul, this Sunday night on “The Lost Chord,” as we enjoy highlights from the world premiere recording of the complete incidental music to a 1920 Max Reinhardt production of “Much Ado About Nothing.”

The music is by Erich Wolfgang Korngold, one of Vienna’s most astounding prodigies, who went on to achieve international celebrity as a composer of film scores. Korngold’s introduction to Hollywood was by way of Reinhardt’s 1935 film version of “A Midsummer Night’s Dream.”

The performance, with the music performed for the first time in its entirety since 1933, was recorded at the University of North Carolina School of the Arts. John Mauceri conducts, on this 2013 Toccata Classics release. You can check out the complete Regional Emmy Award-winning broadcast here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OmFXEMmbULY

We start counting out candles for the Bard, with Korngold’s “Much Ado About Korngold,” this Sunday night at 10:00 EDT, on WWFM – The Classical Network and wwfm.org.