Rufus Wainwright - Take All My Loves: 9 Shakespeare Sonnets

180-gram double LP, D side etching

Album download included, offer subject to expiration

Rufus Wainwright celebrates the 400th anniversary of Shakespeare's death in typically dramatic fashion byreleasing a unique collection of nine sonnets in stunning performances by both actors and vocalists.

The performers on this new recording include vocalists Florence Welch, Martha Wainwright, Anna Prohaska and, of course, Rufus himself, as well as recitation actors Sian Phillips, Helena Bonham Carter, Carrie Fisher and William Shatner.

The seeds for this album were sown back in 2009, when director Robert Wilson asked Rufus to compose music for his Shakespeares Sonnets production, first staged at the Berliner Ensemble. The San Francisco Symphony subsequently commissioned Rufus to orchestrate five of the sonnets, which they premiered in 2010.

Three of the sonnets featured on Take All My Loves first appeared on Rufus Wainwrights 2010 album Songs For Lulu, albeit in different versions. These are: "When Most I Wink" (Sonnet 43), "For Shame" (Sonnet 10) and "A Womans Face" (Sonnet 20).

"For me, recording this album has been a marriage made in heaven, as it combines my love of classical music with my love of pop music," says Rufus. "It's literally historically fun. And made all the better by working again with Marius."

 

LP 1

Side 1

Sonnet 43

When Most I Wink (Sonnet 43)

Take All My Loves (Sonnet 40)

Sonnet 20

A Woman's Face (Sonnet 20)

For Shame (Sonnet 10)

Sonnet 10

Side 2

Unperfect Actor (Sonnet 23)

Sonnet 29

When In Disgrace With Fortune And Men's Eyes (Sonnet 29)

Sonnet 129

Th'Expense Of Spirit In A Waste Of Shame (Sonnet 129)

LP 2

Side 1

All dessen müd (Sonnet 66)

A Woman's Face - Reprise (Sonnet 20)

Sonnet 87

Farewell (Sonnet 87)

Side 2

Vinyl Etching

Be the first to write a review for this item OR just rate it