Well, I found this one called  Shakespeare in Songon Amazon and it looks to be exactly what I was looking for!  One person, “folk style”, singing 14 tunes, 8 of which are sonnets.  The reviews at Amazon are almost all excellent.    Almost everything else I found even close was orchestral music, which is not what I want. I’ve got it on my Christmas list :).  It’s going to be very hard not to just buy the silly thing, but I just bought When Love Speaks, and it’s a rule in my house not to go crazy buying yourself presents when Christmas is right around the corner. Anybody have this, or heard of it?  Is it as good as I’m getting myself worked up for? Know what I’m questing after?  I realized something this morning that sums it up for me nicely.  When I see Shakespeare’s words in print, I want to hear music in my head.  That’s really it.  Sonnet 18 for me will now forever come with a tune.  I realized this when I came into the office and saw the text of Sonnet 29 pinned to my wall, and as I read, I could hear Rufus Wainright singing it in my head.  I pinned it there myself, in my eye line, because that song is in my playlist at work and when it comes around I want to map the sound to the words and fully understand what I’m hearing.  I never fully appreciate the “misheard lyric syndrome” until trying to decipher a Shakespearean sonnet without first seeing it in print :). And for the curious, I won’t rule out the possibility that I can sing this one to my kids as well.  Although it’s a much harder tune to pull off.

http://theater2.nytimes.com/2007/10/30/theater/reviews/30twel.html?ref=theater I’m a bit late on this one but it is still playing if anybody’s in the neighborhood.  How would you like your Shakespeare with some zombie action on the side?  A play where, to quote the article, “Orsino offers his hand in marriage…literally.”  The review does not make it sound like a particularly good play, but it’s certainly different.  Linked for the references to “zombie culture” as portrayed in Shaun of the Dead and SNL’s “Andy Punches” sketch.

http://www.rscshakespeare.co.uk/room.html I had not seen this list, but if you don’t see me in the near future you can I assume that I am tearing through the list :).  Is it cool for me to tell the family that there’s 100 books on my Christmas list, all about Shakespeare? 🙂

As part of my day job I have to write applications for Facebook.  They just released this whole new “products” section, where businesses and other offerings can have a page of their own.  So, of course, I created a Shakespeare Geek facebook page.  If you’ve got a Facebook account, come stop by and sign up!  I have no idea what we can make it do, but hey, it’s always nice to have friends and fans.  

So I got my hands on When Love Speaks this week.  For those that haven’t heard, this CD is a collection of 5o+ readings and interpretations of Shakespeare, mostly the sonnets with some other passages thrown in, primarily from The Tempest.  You’ve probably heard a recording of Alan Rickman (now most famous as Professor Snape) doing “My mistress’ eyes are nothing like the sun.” I was finally motivated to buy this when I found an MP3 of Sonnet 29 (“When in disgrace with fortune and men’s eyes…”) by somebody named Rufus Wainright.  As I’m sure I’ve mentioned a few million times I have Sonnet 18 (“Shall I compare thee”) by David Gilmour, guitar god legend of Pink Floyd.  It is my ring tone, it is the song I sing my children to sleep with, it…is….awesome.  I don’t know anything about Sonnet 29, or who this Rufus Wainright guy is, but dang, I like it.  It made me run out and get the CD in the hopes that there’s more like this on there.  Unfortunately, there’s not. In 53 tracks, only 8 are put to music (the rest being dramatic readings, ala Rickman). Of those, only 4 are sonnets.   One is Rufus, one interestingly is Bryan Ferry doing Sonnet 18 to the exact same piano music as David Gilmour. I wonder what the story is with that? The other two sonnets are Sonnet 8 by Ladysmith Black Mambaso, and a funky Sonnet 35 by Keb’ Mo’.  I care for neither.  I’m sure that is at least in part because they are too over produced.  I can’t imagine singing them to myself or my children. Anybody else got some good sources for me to check out?  I’m specifically looking for sonnets, to music.  Ideally stuff that is not highly stylized (i.e. don’t screw with the words), just put it to music and sing it straight.  I’ve had good results so far with Gilmour and 18, and I would love to live in a world where I can come home to the sounds of Shakespeare like others listen to classical music.