Shostakovich - Music from the film "Hamlet"

Dmitri Shostakovich

Dmitri Shostakovich (1906-1975) was one of the towering figures of twentieth century music. He is most remembered for his fifteen symphonies and fifteen string quartets, and for navigating a perilous line through the artistic sensibilities of Joseph Stalin and the diktats of Soviet rule.

Shostakovich's musical development occurred simultaneously with the rise of cinema as an art form, and the composer contributed music scores to over 30 feature films. The score featured here is from a 1964 adaptation of Shakespeare's Hamlet - based on a translation by Boris Pasternak, and directed by Grigori Kozintsev. 

It's fitting that this 1975 Decca recording (here on the US London label) was conducted by another great film composer, Bernard Herrmann - conducting, as was often the case with his Decca Phase 4 Stereo records the National Philharmonic Orchestra, a recording orchestra formed from London's finest orchestral musicians. To read the sleeve notes to the album click on the scan below.

Cartridge: Ortofon Synergy GM SPU

Phono amp: Graham Slee Accession MC

Turntable: CTC Classic 301 with SME M2-12R

Click to enlarge