Performer: Timothy West, Samuel West
Orchestra: BBC National Orchestra of Wales
Conductor: Andrew Constantine
Format: FLAC (tracks)
Label: Orchid
Release: 2019
Size: 1.19 GB
Recovery: +3%
Scan: yes
01. Henry IV Part 1 Act 1 scene 2 – Timothy West, Samuel West I Am Not Only Witty in Myself
02. Falstaff – Symphonic Study in C minor, Op. 68 – I. Falstaff and Prince Henry
03. Henry IV Part 1 Act 2 scene 4 – What’s the Matter?
Falstaff – Symphonic Study in C minor, Op.68
04. IIa. Eastcheap – Gadshill – The Boar’s Head. Revelry and Sleep
05. IIb. Dream Interlude
06. Henry IV Part 2 Act 3 scene 2 – Come, Sir, Which Men Shall I Have?
Falstaff – Symphonic Study in C minor, Op.68
07. IIIa. Falstaff’s March – The Return Through Gloucestershire
08. IIIb. Interlude. Shallow’s Orchard – The New King – The Hurried Ride to London
09. Henry IV Part 2 Act 5 scene 3 – Sir John, Thy Tender Lambkin Now Is King
Falstaff – Symphonic Study in C minor, Op.68
10. IV. King Henry V’s Progress – The Repudiation of Falstaff and His Death
11. Poem: Tam O’Shanter
12. Chadwick: Tam O’Shanter
This release features a unique recording of Elgar’s Falstaff played by the BBC National Orchestra of Wales under Andrew Constantine in two versions: both with and without excerpts from Shakespeare’s Henry IV Parts I and II performed by Timothy West and Samuel West. Alongside Elgar’s magnificent response to Shakespeare’s loveable rogue, we hear American composer George Whitefield Chadwick’s Tam O’Shanter, an interpretation of the poem by Scottish national poet Robert Burns, featuring Erik Chapman as Chadwick and Billy Wiz as Burns. Both Falstaff and Tam O’Shanter are louche, larger-than-life characters, inspiring Chadwick to write a score full of color and humor, and Elgar to create a portrait of Shakespearean scale and depth. Elgar’s work can be heard here in an exceptional performance from the BBC National Orchestra of Wales, in one version interspersed with readings from Timothy West as Falstaff, and Samuel West as Prince Hal.