The 37 songs in this recital, written by 27 composers - male, female, English, French, Swiss, German, Romantic, modern and contemporary - bear witness to the richness of Shakespeare's works to which this recital is dedicated. Organised in the form of a play in five acts, including prologue and epilogue, the songs, which include several duets, are in turn cheerful and sad, light and profound, classical and jazzy - thus allowing, in Carolyn Sampson's words, 'a breadth of responses to these great texts'. Alongside well-known melodies, such as those by Schubert, there are musical adaptations by different composers of the same texts, as well as a contemporary reflection for the two voices by Hannah Kendall exploring the question of gender fluidity and identity through the elusive character of Rosalind from As You Like It. After many acclaimed releases on BIS, including Album fÃ¼r die Frau, a collection of songs by Clara and Robert Schumann, A Soprano's Schubertiade and Elysium, two Schubert recitals, as well as a number of themed recitals, some of which were named 'Recording of the Month' by MusicWeb International and 'CD-Tipp' by BR Klassik, Carolyn Sampson and Joseph Middleton are joined here by renowned British baritone Roderick Williams.

Tracklist:

Full Fathom Five [01:14]
Dirge for Fidele [03:55]
The Lover and His Lass (version for 2 voices and piano) [01:39]
33 Shakespeare Songs, Op. 24: Book 6: No.
Arise [01:24]
The Fairies: You Spotted Snakes (arr. R. Graves for 2 voices and piano) [01:53]
No.
Come unto these Yellow Sands [01:55]
No.
Full Fathom Five [01:55]
No.
Where the Bee Sucks [01:10]
As You Like It: Under the Greenwood Tree (version for voice and piano) [02:13]
5 Elizabethan Songs: No. 3 Under the Greenwood Tree [01:43]
4 Sonnets: No.
Sonnet 87, "Farewell, Though Art Too Dear" [03:27]
Songs of a Wayfarer: No.
When Daffodils Begin to Peer [02:02]
6 Original Canzonettas, Book 2, Hob.XXVIa:31-36: No.
She Never Told Her Love, Hob.XXVIa:34 [03:56]
Gesang, Op. 106, No. 4, D. 891, "An Sylvia" (Who is Sylvia) [02:44]
StÃ¤ndchen, D. 889, "Hark, hark, the lark" (Horch, horch! die Lerch) [01:47]
Trinklied, D. 888 [01:17]
5 Lieder und GesÃ¤nge, Op. 127: No.
Schlusslied des Narren [00:58]
4 Gedichte nach Heine, Shakespeare und Lord Byron: No.
Lied des transferierten Zettel [00:51]
Duette, Op. 16: No.
Komm herbei, Tod [02:58]
2 Shakespeare Songs: No.
They Bore him Barefaced on a Bier [03:20]
No.
Here is a space. [03:28]
No.
all love is a lunacy [02:57]
No.
.no expanation is needed - [02:14]
No.
Take my fear take my feeling - [04:03]
No.
You do not get to dress me anymore. [01:20]
Fancy, FP 174 [02:15]
Fancie (version for voice and piano) [00:52]
No.
Venez jusqu'Ã ces sables d'or [02:51]
No.
OÃ¹ butine l'abeille [00:39]
Blow, Blow thou Winter Wind [01:50]
7 Shakespeare Songs: No.
Take, O Take Those Lips Away [03:42]
Shall I Compare Thee to a Summer's Day? [02:36]
7 Shakespeare Songs: No.
Under the Greenwood Tree [01:20]
Othello, Op. 79: No.
The Willow Song (version for voice and piano) [02:28]
3 Shakespeare Songs, Op. 37: No.
Fairy Lullaby [02:04]
Sigh no More, Ladies [00:59]
Orpheus with his Lute (arr. R. Williams for 2 voices and piano) [03:11]

UPC: 7318599926537
Label: Bis
Release Date: 8.4.23
Format: CD

Arne / Beach / Britten - Sounds & Sweet Airs - A Shakespeare Songbook (CD)