Ian Bostridge & Antonio Pappano - Shakespeare Songs (2016)

“Shakespeare has been a part of my life as a performer from the very start” says Ian Bostridge, “Britten's Midsummer Night's Dream and Ades's The Tempest have been milestones for me as a singer. It has been a great joy to rediscover the music in Shakespeare's incomparable texts and the music that has been written over the past four centuries toclothe them, from the simplest songs of his own contemporaries, through the melodic delights of the likes of Haydn, Britten and Finzi to the matchless complexity of the late Stravinsky. Working again with Tony Pappano has been a joy; and making my first recording with a long term musical partner, lutenist Liz Kenny, a particular pleasure.” This album is a collection of some of the greatest settings of the words of Shakespeare, ranging from composers of the time such as Robert Johnson and William Byrd, 18th and 19th century songs by Haydn, Arne and Schubert, through to the 20th century settings by Warlock, Poulenc, Finzi, Korngold and Stravinsky. As guests Ian has invited his friends pianist Sir Antonio Pappano, flautist Adam Walker, violist Lawrence Power and clarinettist Michael Collins on the Stravinsky Three Songs, and the lutenist Elizabeth Kenny.

Tracklist:

01. Finzi, Gerald - Finzi: Let us garlands bring, Op. 18 - No. 1. Come Away, Come Away, Death (3:39)
02. Finzi, Gerald - Finzi: Let us garlands bring, Op. 18 - No. 2. Who is Silvia? (1:27)
03. Finzi, Gerald - Finzi: Let us garlands bring, Op. 18 - No. 3. Fear No More the Heat o' the Sun (5:33)
04. Finzi, Gerald - Finzi: Let us garlands bring, Op. 18 - No. 4. O Mistress Mine (1:53)
05. Finzi, Gerald - Finzi: Let us garlands bring, Op. 18 - No. 5. It was a Lover and his Lass (2:37)
06. Byrd, William - Byrd: Caleno Custore Me (3:20)
07. Morley, Thomas - Morley: The First Book of Ayres or Little Short Songs: It was a lover and his lasse (3:26)
08. Wilson, John - Wilson: Take, O Take Those Lips Away (2:11)
09. Morley, Thomas - Morley: O Mistresse mine (1:10)
10. Johnson, Robert - Johnson:Where the bee sucks (1:11)
11. Johnson, Robert - Johnson: Full Fathom Five (3:26)
12. Schubert, Franz - Schubert: Gesang, Op. 106, No. 4, D. 891, 'An Sylvia' (Who is Sylvia) (2:35)
13. Haydn, Franz Joseph - Haydn: She never told her love, Hob.XXVIa:34 (3:42)
14. Quilter, Roger - Quilter: 3 Shakespeare Songs, Op. 6: No. 1. Come Away, Death (2:51)
15. Gurney, Ivor - Gurney: 5 Elizabethan Songs: No. 3 Under the greenwood tree (1:34)
16. Warlock, Peter - Warlock: Pretty Ring Time (1:17)
17. Warlock, Peter - Warlock: Sweet and twenty (1:20)
18. Korngold, Erich Wolfgang - Korngold: 4 Lieder, Op. 31: No. 1. Desdemona's Song (3:07)
19. Korngold, Erich Wolfgang - Korngold: Songs of the Clown, Op. 29 (excerpts) - No. 1. Come Away, Death (2:25)
20. Korngold, Erich Wolfgang - Korngold: Songs of the Clown, Op. 29 (excerpts) - No. 3. Adieu, Good Man Devil (0:44)
21. Poulenc, Francis - Poulenc: Fancy, FP 174 (1:27)
22. Britten, Benjamin - Britten: Fancie (0:58)
23. Tippett, Michael - Tippett: Songs for Ariel - No. 1. Come unto these yellow sands (1:53)
24. Tippett, Michael - Tippett: Songs for Ariel - No. 2. Full fathom five (2:05)
25. Tippett, Michael - Tippett: Songs for Ariel - No. 3. Where the bee sucks (1:04)
26. Stravinsky, Igor - Stravinsky: 3 Songs from William Shakespeare - No. 1. Musick to hear (2:52)
27. Stravinsky, Igor - Stravinsky: 3 Songs from William Shakespeare - No. 2. Full fadom five (2:04)
28. Stravinsky, Igor - Stravinsky: 3 Songs from William Shakespeare - No. 3. When dasies pied (2:19)
29. Anonymous - Anonymous: When that I Was but a Little Tiny Boy (2:29)