Shakespeare At Covent Garden / Pickett, Musicians Of The Globe

Henry Rowley Bishop (Composer), Musicians of the Globe (Performer), Andrew King (Performer), Andrew Murgatroyd (Performer), Christopher Robson (Performer), Helen Groves (Performer), Jeanette Ager (Performer), Joanne Lunn (Performer), Joseph Cornwell (Performer), Julia Gooding (Performer), Mark Tucker (Performer), Rachel Elliott (Performer), Roderick Williams (Performer), Simon Davies (Performer), Simon Grant (Performer), Susan Gritton (Performer), William Purefoy (Performer)

Product Details

• Performer: Musicians of the Globe, Andrew King, Andrew Murgatroyd, Christopher Robson, Helen Groves, et al.
• Composer: Henry Rowley Bishop
• Audio CD (August 10, 1999)
• SPARS Code: DDD
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Philips
• ASIN: B00000JXZ1
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #362,029 in Music (See Bestsellers in Music)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Bishop among the best, May 31, 2000

By	Frederic Bourgeois (Palo Alto, CA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Although he's not known at all, Bishop wrote music of pure delight, perfectly matched to Shakespeare words. Joy, passion or comedy are rendered with the right tone by Philipp Picket and his musicians. The soloists and the orchestra obviously took great pleasure in performing this rare pages, as well as the listener do. The recording is perfect too. The balance between the voices and the orchestra is even. As for the style of the music itself, if you enjoyed Thomas Linley Jr.(1756-1778), you will love Bishop. A must for curious listener.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars a WONDROUS recording!, December 31, 2008

By	Mesmerized from Miami (Atlanta, GA USA) - See all my reviews

I must echo the sentiments of the May 2000 reviewer; this collection of Sir Henry Bishop's compositions based on Shakespeare is a joy to behold. It has lifted my heart at some very low moments in my life over the past few years, and I've come to place it on my mythical 'desert island' list. Philip Pickett, Susan Gritton and their miriad colleagues are all truly engaged in some of the most sparkling romanticism this side of Mendelssohn, in some of the most gorgeous, colorfully scored and well-recorded HIP performances I've ever heard. I'm particularly fond of both versions of 'Who Is Sylvia?', which plumb depths that truly touched my heart -- the first time I heard these two song variants, I was moved nearly to tears by the combined magic of Shakespeare's haunting words married to intensely sublime music every bit the equal to the lyrics. Bishop's early Romantic tone painting created nothing less than a musical 'Mona Lisa' of Shakespeare's Sylvia. A true masterpiece in every sense of the word.

If you enjoy Mendelssohn, or perhaps a better parallel would come along later in the 19th Century with the Renaissance-ish madrigaling of the 'Yeomen of the Guard' (though the works here are of a more serious nature, even the ones from the comedies), then you will love this recording. Like Sullivan, Bishop is a master of musical mimickry of the highest order, and the works presented here are as much a tribute to Shakespeare as they are to Byrd, Gibbons and their contemporaries. But again, make no mistake: this music delves deep, considerably deeper than G&S. I truly hope that more of Bishop's compositions -- especially the stage works based on Shakespeare -- see the light of day once again soon, performed complete (though I'll gladly take more excerpts, as here). English stage music and opera between Purcell and Sullivan remains sadly neglected, and from the evidence here, utterly unjustifiably.

This cherished recording is a 24K diamond.

0 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars and don't buy this one either, December 19, 2008

By	Sally Mitchell - See all my reviews

See the review for CD of Shakespeare Musick (Musicians of the Globe). My nonreturnable
copies will donated to my local library. Don't decide to buy this product unless you've
heard the entire CD.