“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:
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.
This week on “Picture Perfect,” a few days in advance of the surmised birthday of William Shakespeare (on April 23, 1564), it will be much ado about Patrick Doyle and his music composed for the films of Kenneth Branagh.
In 1987, Doyle joined Branagh’s Renaissance Theatre Company, for which he provided incidental music. Two years later, Branagh – and by extension, Doyle – made a leap to the big screen, where they achieved a remarkable feat, rethinking Shakespeare’s “Henry V.” Remember, this is the play that propelled Laurence Olivier to worldwide fame in 1944, both as a filmmaker and the Bard’s most celebrated interpreter, and William Walton’s score is regarded as one of the best of all time.
Branagh’s version is quite different. Though equally rousing, it doesn’t shy away from Henry’s more complicated nature and the grittier aspects of what it means to go to war. It was a bold gamble, but one that paid off. Not only did this revisionist “Henry” receive nearly universal acclaim, the film was a box office success, and Branagh would be nominated for two Academy Awards, like his predecessor, in the categories of Best Actor and Best Director. Certainly the film’s score deserved to be recognized – but in the year of “The Little Mermaid,” it failed even to secure an Academy Award nomination.
An interesting footnote: Doyle himself is the baritone who introduces “Non nobis Domine,” a prayer of thanksgiving, following the Battle of Agincourt.
In 2006, Branagh directed an adaptation of “As You Like It.” As has become his custom, he took a celebrity approach to its casting, although perhaps not so widely uneven as some of the cameos in his big screen “Hamlet.” Kevin Kline appears as Jacques; Alfred Molina is the fool, Touchstone; and Branagh regulars, Brian Blessed and Richard Briers appear, as well.
The most radical liberty taken with the play is that Branagh recasts the events to take place among English traders in 19th century Japan. The language remains firmly rooted in Shakespeare’s text, although there are striking cross-cultural elements, including ample kimonos, kabuki theatre, ninjas, and a sumo wrestler. Still, it’s a long way off from the astounding bomb that was Branagh’s American Songbook-interpolated “Love’s Labour’s Lost.”
While Olivier’s “Hamlet” won four Academy Awards in 1948, including those for Best Picture and Best Actor, Branagh’s 1996 version is cinema’s first adaptation of the complete text. It is, perhaps, an uneven interpretation, with some puzzling casting choices – including walk-ons by Jack Lemmon, Robin Williams and Gerard Depardieu – but there are enough merits, certainly, to make the four-hour trek worthwhile.
Finally, Branagh teamed with his then-wife, Emma Thompson, for a titanic battle of wits as Benedick and Beatrice in his 1993 adaptation of “Much Ado About Nothing.” Again, the film features an eclectic supporting cast of classically trained actors and pop Hollywood phenomena. Briers, Blessed, and Imelda Staunton share screen time with Denzel Washington, Michael Keaton and Keanu Reeves. Yet, somehow, despite the different nationalities, ethnicities, and accents, the entire enterprise works. There is an exuberance to the over-the-top opening sequence which sets up a momentum that carries through the rest of the film.
Sigh no more, but join me for the Shakespeare scores of Patrick Doyle on “Picture Perfect,” this Friday evening at 6:00 EDT, on WWFM – The Classical Network and wwfm.org.
You can thank the Romans. They’re the ones who marked the summer solstice on June 24. Hence, the schism between the longest day (June 21) and Midsummer. But the Romans liked nothing if not a good party, so why not keep celebrating?
This morning on WPRB, on the second day of summer, we anticipate the Eve of St. John – Midsummer, tomorrow night – the night when the demon Chernobog emerges from the Bald Mountain, Puck pours love juice in everyone’s eyes, and inebriated folk leap naked over bonfires.
Join me for selections inspired by Swedish Midsummer revelry, Ukrainian folklore, and Shakespeare’s “A Midsummer Night’s Dream.” We’ll also hear music from Igmar Bergman’s “Smiles of a Summer Night,” Alfred Schnittke’s “(K)ein Sommernachtstraum” – “(Not) a Summer Night’s Dream” – and Gunnar de Frumerie’s ballet “St. John’s Eve.”
We’ll squeeze the juice of love-in-idleness onto sleeping eyelids, this Thursday morning from 6 to 11 EDT, on WPRB 103.3 FM and wprb.com. Don’t get between me and my bonfires, on Classic Ross Amico.
We don’t know when, exactly, Shakespeare was born, but his baptismal date is April 26, 1564. Since it’s human nature to try to keep things neat, his natal day is generally held to be April 23, the very date of his death in 1616.
This week on “Picture Perfect,” we’ll honor the Bard, just a few days early, with an hour of music from movies based upon his comedies. We’ll hear selections from “As You Like It” (William Walton), “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” (Korngold), “The Taming of the Shrew” (Nino Rota), and “Much Ado About Nothing” (Patrick Doyle).
What fools these mortals be! Join me this Friday evening at 6:00 EDT for music for Shakespearean comedies, on WWFM – The Classical Network and wwfm.org.
First comes Groundhog Day, then comes Easter, then comes Shakespeare’s birthday. All that remains is for us to lock up a sacrifice in the Wicker Man on April 30 and Sulis will have been appeased.
We don’t know when, exactly, the Bard was born, but his baptismal date is April 26, 1564. Since it’s human nature to try to keep things neat, his natal day is generally held to be April 23, the very date of his death in 1616.
I hope you’ll join me this morning, as we celebrate the Bard, with a full morning of music inspired by his plays. We’ll hear selections from composers who were Shakespeare’s contemporaries, right on down to Paul Moravec’s “Tempest Fantasy,” which was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for Music in 2004.
Other treats will include a recording of Ralph Vaughan Williams conducting his own “Serenade to Music,” after a text from “The Merchant of Venice,” a reconstructed duet from a projected opera on the subject of “Romeo and Juliet” by Peter Ilych Tchaikovsky, and incidental music for a production of “Antony and Cleopatra” by French composer Florent Schmitt, in an opulent recording conducted by JoAnn Falletta.
Just some of the ingredients that will go into a secret recipe made public from 6 to 11 a.m. EDT, on WPRB 103.3 FM and wprb.com. We engage in a little Shake and bake, on Classic Ross Amico.
