The Shakespeare Suite

David Stoll

Solid Strings - Sonia Slany, Jacqueline Norrie, Sophie Renshaw and Nick Cooper.

Soloists - Melinda Maxwell (oboe) Anna Noakes (flute) Pip Eastop (horn) Shelagh Sutherland (piano) Martin Robertson (clarinet) John Orford (bassoon)

Introduction, Biography, Track details, Audio files, Reviews

The SHAKESPEARE SUITE presents a dozen of Shakespeare’s best-loved characters in musical form. Written in a highly accessible and tuneful style, this set of pieces for chamber ensemble is full of references to the plays and may also be enjoyed in its own right.

From the dilemma of VIOLA (a woman, disguised as a man, in love with the man who has sent her to woo, on his behalf, a woman whom he loves but who is, herself, in love with Viola, thinking her to be a man) to the eternal feminine mystery of CLEOPATRA as she floats in her royal barge down the Nile;  from the charismatic devilry of the murderous RICHARD THE THIRD who terrifies even himself, to the inspiring young HENRY THE FIFTH encouraging his army at the Battle of Agincourt; from the lovers BEATRICE AND BENEDICK who never stop quarreling, to the tormented Prince HAMLET who finds that his father has been murdered by his own brother, Hamlet’s uncle, who also seduced and married Hamlet’s mother: these, with PUCK, OTHELLO, MIRANDA, PORTIA and FALSTAFF are all brought to life in this new CD from Riverrun Records.