Tchaikovsky's Fantasy Overture Hamlet was composed in 1888 after his friend, actor Lucien Guitry, requested a short orchestral piece for a charity performance of Hamlet.
Composition History
Friedrich Kuhlau's William Shakespeare, op. 74, is an extensive set of incidental music to a four-act drama by Norwegian-born playwright Casper Johannes Boye, premiered in Copenhagen in March 1826.
Recording & Production
This recording was made in the Alsion Concert Hall in Sonderborg, Denmark, which is internationally recognized as one of the best concert halls in Europe for classical music due to its optimum acoustics and 'surround sound' effect.
Composer Biography
Friedrich Kuhlau, a German-Danish composer, was known for absorbing Beethoven's compositional advances, which is evident in his Overture to William Shakespeare.
Compositional Technique
Joseph Joachim's Hamlet Overture reinterprets Lisztian ideas of poetic form by incorporating Beethoven's classical character-study overtures, such as Egmont and Coriolan.
Composer Biography
Joseph Joachim, primarily known as a great violinist and friend of Brahms, was also a gifted composer in his youth, founding and running the Hochschule für Musik in Berlin.
Album & Artwork
The album features music inspired by Shakespeare and his character Hamlet, with the dramatist himself portrayed by Friedrich Kuhlau and Hamlet by Tchaikovsky, Liszt, Joachim, and Edward MacDowell.
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