MARIO CASTELNUOVO-TEDESCO (1895-1968): Shakespeare Overtures, Vol. 1 - Julius Caesar, Op. 78, The Taming of the Shrew, Op. 61, Antony and Cleopatra, Op. 134, A Midsummer Night's Dream, Op. 108, The Tragedy of Coriolanus, Op. 135, Twelfth Night, Op. 73.

Description: There are 11 of these and the second batch will be here next month. These recordings were made in Perth in 1994, originally for Marco Polo, but were not released at the time for "technical issues". Whatever these issues were, they are inaudible because the lusciously film-scorey music sounds perfectly fine. Castelnuovo-Tedesco had a kind of Shakespeare obsession - composing 33 songs from the plays, setting 35 of the sonnets, writing two operas (The Merchant of Venice and All's Well That Ends Well), and these overtures which date from 1933 to 1953. Half date from before his move to California and the beginning of his double career as film-score composer and concert composer but all of them sound like film scores, using a large orchestra often with triple woodwinds and quadruple brass and large percussion sections. Jump in and wallow! West Australian Symphony Orchestra; Andrew Penny.