This Saturday is the 400th anniversary of Shakespeare’ death, and BBC North will be giving the Bard a definite Manchester accent on BBC Radio 3 over the weekend of 22/23/24 April.
The BBC Philharmonic has commissioned five Manchester trained classical composers to write new pieces pegged to five Shakespearean sonnets – and the orchestra will perform all five pieces on 23 April at Bridgewater Hall.
Shakespeare’s star-cross’d lovers have inspired composers for centuries, but there’s still nothing to quite match Prokofiev’s great Soviet ballet-score: Romeo and Juliet retold in music that’s as sharp as a rapier and as tender as a kiss.
Then there are also made five short, edgy contemporary dramas inspired by Shakespeare Sonnets set in Manchester across one day from sunrise to sunset, using the BBC Philharmonic’s music and each introduced with a sonnet reading by Maxine Peake.
BBC Radio 3 marks the 400th anniversary of the death of Shakespeare with a special season of programming celebrating the four centuries of music and performance that his plays and sonnets have inspired.
