In May, 2000, the Royal Shakespeare Company held a Celebration Concert that featured compositions by leading composers that have been associated with the company, including Stephen Warbeck, head of music for the organization and winner of the Academy Award for his score for the film Shakespeare in Love. These pieces were recorded in March, just before the big event, and are now issued on CD. The compositions amount to mini tone poems inspired by some particular passage or play written by the Bard; appropriate readings from the playwright’s works serve as introductions and bridges. The best of the lot are Anne Dudley’s playful Strange Capers, inspired by As You Like It, and Warbeck’s moving, colorful The Death of Ophelia, which features a haunting trumpet solo reminiscent of the music for the movie The Lovers of Tereul. All of the music is played by the Royal Shakespeare Company’s house band, an ensemble of a dozen of so players consisting of winds, percussion, guitar, and keyboards. It plays with great assurance and precision, and Malcolm Storry and Harriet Walter bring great insight and enthusiasm to the spoken segments. The sonic detail is smudged by a slightly pinched, fuzzy edginess that the ear adjusts to rather quickly.
