William Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack [SOUNDTRACK]

Renee Fleming, Simon Boswell

Product Details

• Audio CD (April 20, 1999)
• Original Release Date: April 20, 1999
• Number of Discs: 1
• Format: Soundtrack
• Label: Decca
• ASIN: B00000ILWJ
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars See all reviews (31 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #53,119 in Music (See Bestsellers in Music)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com
The world of meddling fairies and "amorous discord"--both frolicsome and subversive--conjured by A Midsummer Night's Dream has enchanted the imagination of many a composer, the most famous being Felix Mendelssohn. Selections from his magical evocation of Shakespeare's poetry set the tone for Michael Hoffmann's engaging new film version featuring an all-star cast. The soundtrack also takes its cue from the director's setting of the play in late 19th-century Tuscany to indulge in some of the great moments of Italian opera. Gloriously spun melodies from Verdi, Donizetti, and Bellini enrich the film's sensual texture of laden banquets and misbegotten erotic dalliances by night in the forest. In his own original score, Simon Boswell (whose other credits range from Cousin Bette to Shallow Grave) interweaves moments of neo-Puccinian poignancy for the deluded mortals with exotic, Near Eastern-tinged strains to depict the lascivious pleasures of the fairy realm. As envisioned by the director, these assume a netherworldish quality more reminiscent of the Brothers Grimm than the Italian landscape. Opera fans will also relish the presence here of two new recordings by Renée Fleming made specifically for the soundtrack, including "Casta diva," which is sung as a counterpoint of languid beauty to Shakespeare's tangled web of illusory passion. --Thomas May

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Soundtrack Worthy of This Delightful Film!, April 27, 2000

By	strega2 "strega2" (USA) - See all my reviews

I was enchanted with this film's version of Shakespeare's most magical play, and the soundtrack was among its greatest delights. The classical pieces are superbly selected from among the most romantic in Western music, such as Mendelssohn's musical version of the play, and arias from Verdi, Puccini, Bellini and Donizetti. I was especially pleased by the inclusion of the "Intermezzo" from Mascagni's "Cavalleria Rusticana," a gorgeous interlude in an otherwise dark opera. But I was most enthralled by the Oriental and highly original quality of Simon Boswell's score for the Fairy scenes--the contrast between the fairies' exotic music and the mortals' beautiful classical music clearly emphasized the very separate worlds that they inhabited. This score is every bit as enchanting as Shakespeare's Midsummer Night of mixed-up romance and magic!

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Everyone's all upset about Yanni...., February 10, 2000

By	"faeriedust1" (Medfield) - See all my reviews

If you want Yanni, buy a Yanni CD. OK? If you want beautiful classical melodies written by Mendelsohn and wonderful, REAL, arias and duets sung by the incomparable Cecilia Bartoli, Renee Fleming et al, then buy this CD. It's amazing. Everyone I know loves it, whether their primary musical interest is classical or not - mine isn't.

9 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars The Flower Duet for the trailer, July 3, 2001

By	walkure "walkure" (Malaysia) - See all my reviews

This is for those who are searching for the song featured in the trailer. I bought the True Romance soundtrack for the Howard Blake arrangement of the Flower Duet (viens mallika) written by Delibes. It turned out to be the same arrangement as used in the soundtrack for the movie The Hunger starring David Bowie and Catherine Deneuve. It doesn't sound like the version I heard on the trailer. I also checked out the Luminaire version but it was more of a techno track with some floating vocals from the duet. Again, not quite what I had expected. There is also a remix of Luminaire's version by Jonathan Peters called "Flower Duet '99" but I haven't heard it (yet). I finally searched through soundtrack.net which has a section identifying music used just for trailers. This identified the Flower Duet as the arrangement by Yanni. I do have one of Yanni's CDs which has a song called "Aria" - I had bought it specifically for the Flower Duet. It does sound quite similar to the trailer version but I can't be sure - somehow the beat in the trailer is stronger and faster (a slightly speeded-up and remixed version?). Anyway, the Yanni version "Aria" is available on some of his CDs. If you're interested, there's even a live version of "Aria" in his Live at the Acropolis CD. For those who have to get every non-operatic version of this, there is also the Malcolm McLaren arrangement (in a compilation CD) which was rather effectively used quite some time ago in the British Airways ads.