In 2016 I launched a new record label, Globe Music – capturing special collaborations at Shakespeare’s Globe. Bringing together some of the world’s finest musicians to commune in the candlelit Sam Wanamaker Playhouse, this label attempts to bottle the unique environment where music and the theatrical meet. Our first disc, Songs from Our Ancestors with Ian Bostridge and Xuefei Yang was shortlisted for BBC Music Magazine’s Recording of the Year.
The second disc we made was historical music from our Broadway/West End hits Twelfth Night and Richard III. Claire van Kampen’s arrangements and selections form a jukebox of greatest hits from England and the continent of Elizabethan and Jacobean tunes that dazzled audiences in London and New York. The Musicians of Shakespeare’s Globe brought it all together to record many of these afresh, mixing new tracks with live recordings straight from the Globe.
“Fabulous… Claire van Kampen has a pulse on the sound world of early modern England while speaking directly to a modern audience. Well-chosen and balanced…gives you a sense of how stellar the Musicians of Shakespeare’s Globe really are…tight playing, arresting music and exciting performances.” – BBC 3 Record Review
The most recent CD is Mali in Oak – a duet record taken from John Williams’ series of plucked strings from around the Globe. This is a very special collaboration for me. Kora and cello virtuoso Tunde Jegede and South African guitarist Derek Gripper combine to play some of the most hallowed staples of the Malian griot repertoire while also throwing in new compositions of their own. It’s a beautiful, soulful, graceful disc. I think it goes perfectly either first thing in the morning or right before you go to bed, but hey, just listen to it.
“Their duets are as elegant and graceful as you would expect, but the most extraordinary thing is that it’s almost impossible to tell which notes are coming from which instrument… It comes beautifully packaged with a 40-page booklet of informative notes and photos that enhances the feel of a very ‘special’ musical communion in a way that a soulless digital download never can.” – Top of the World selection, Songlines Magazine.
From Classical Music Magazine:
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