London Philharmonic Orchestra: Shakespeare400 Anniversary Gala Concert

Scenes from:
Verdi Otello
Tchaikovsky Hamlet
Vaughan Williams Serenade to Music
Britten A Midsummer Night’s Dream
Mendelssohn A Midsummer Night’s Dream
Berlioz Roméo et Juliette
Prokofiev Romeo and Juliet
Thomas Adès The Tempest
Walton Henry V
Verdi Falstaff

Vladimir Jurowski conductor
Simon Callow director
London Philharmonic Orchestra
The Glyndebourne Chorus

Soloists including:
Kate Royal soprano
Allison Bell soprano
Dame Felicity Palmer mezzo soprano
Iestyn Davies countertenor
Ronald Samm tenor
Andrew Shore baritone
Simon Keenlyside baritone

‘I have had him in my hands from my earliest youth’, said Giuseppe Verdi of William Shakespeare, ‘I have read and reread him continually.’ Verdi wasn’t alone. Shakespeare’s body of plays has exercised more influence over composers and musicians than anything else in literature bar the Bible. This concert opens with music from Verdi’s setting of Othello – probably the most bold and significant music he would write – and closes with music from his final, ebullient masterpiece Falstaff. In between come orchestral and operatic settings from Britten, Mendelssohn, Berlioz, Prokofiev and Adès, each filled with character and overflowing with drama. Vladimir Jurowski conducts the music, which is interspersed with readings from the plays directed by Simon Callow, as we mark the 400th year since the death of the greatest playwright that ever lived.

Concert generously supported by Victoria Robey OBE.