Album Notes

Measure for Measure: The Music of Shakespeare’s Plays
Americas Musicworks CD 1594

Ensemble Chaconne (Peter H. Bloom, Renaissance flutes; Carol Lewis, viole da gamba; and Olav Chris Henriksen, Renaissance lute) with mezzo-soprano Pamela Dellal

“The perfect Elizabethan evening” ~ The Portland Press Herald
“excellently played with vitality and character…style and verve.” ~ MusicWeb International
"...fascinating! For anyone interested in an historically informed perspective on the music of Shakespeare's plays, this disc is a must have!" ~ David Duff, Alabama Public Radio
“Impressive” ~ Early Music (U.K.)
“a rich musical experience” ~The Concord Monitor
“pleasingly evocative...as close a glimpse of the musical pleasures accorded Shakespeare’s audiences as we are apt to experience.” ~ Bostonia Magazine
“splendidly handled… …the recording balances are excellent… delightful…” Lute News (The English Lute Society)


In this stellar recording, Ensemble Chaconne offers a rare and compelling view of the music Shakespeare’s audiences would have heard, including music by the great composers of his day (Thomas Morley, Robert Johnson, John Dowland, and others), as well as popular tunes of the period. The CD features vivid performances by the acclaimed period-instrument trio, while showcasing Ms. Dellal’s versatility and dramatic flair in a variety of songs from the plays, from love songs and comic antics to madness and tragedy.

Among the many selections are “Willow, Willow” sung by Desdemona before her murder in Othello; “It Was a Lover and His Lasse” (As You Like It); “O Mistress Mine” (Twelfth Night); “Hark, Hark! The Lark” (Cymbeline); “Take O Take Those Lips Away” (Measure for Measure); “Full Fathom Five” (The Tempest), "Go from My Window” from Ophelia’s mad scene in Hamlet; and “Greensleeves,” the famous ballad tune quoted in The Merry Wives of Windsor, an allusion to women of ill repute, recognized by their green sleeves.

Celebrating its 23rd season in 2008-2009, ENSEMBLE CHACONNE is dedicated to vivid, historically-informed performance of Renaissance and Baroque music on period instruments. The ensemble’s Measure for Measure was selected as featured concert at the 2002 National Meeting of the American Musicological Society Society and was presented by the Royal Shakespeare Company’s 2006 residency project at Davidson College. Ensemble Chaconne has concertized widely, appearing at venues such as Atlanta's famed Spivey Hall; Boston's legendary Jordan Hall; the Bach Festival Society of Winter Park, Florida; University of North Carolina at Charlotte, Kenyon College, Bowdoin College, Boston’s Museum of Fine Arts, and many more.

GUEST ARTIST PAMELA DELLAL has toured the United States, Europe, Australia and Japan and has recorded for Arabesque Records, Artona, BMG, Dorian, Meridian, and KOCH International. Her singing has been called “outstanding” (The New York Times) and “lushly fluid” (The Washington Post), and she has been praised for her “gleaming vocal colors and firm, steady tone, a sure sense of dramatic portrayal and faultless musicianship” (The Boston Globe).

ENSEMBLE CHACONNE is managed exclusively by AMERICAS MUSICWORKS
Rebecca DeLamotte, Managing Director
Call Toll Free: 888-887-7169 ~ In Massachusetts: 617-776-8778
Email: delamotte-amw@comcast.net