Dame Judi Dench and Shakespeare: Exits and Entrances

Is there a better combination than Dame Judi Dench and William Shakespeare? In honor of the 400th anniversary of the death of the greatest writer in the history of the English language, one of the premiere actresses of our time is releasing a new CD called Exits & Entrances: Celebration of Shakespeare, featuring recitations of his work with specially scored original light classical music accompanying nine of the twenty four tracks on the album, written by British composer Jackie Williams.

Dame Judi performs some of her favorite selections from the Bard’s works, including the classic “When in Disgrace With Fortune and Men’s Eyes” and “Let Me Not to the Marriage of True Minds.” She is joined by David Suchet (best known in the US as Hercule Poirot), and Dench’s late brother Jeffery, a member of the Royal Shakespeare Company, well-known for his powerfully-intoned Shakespeare roles, who adds a contrastingly robust tone, and Oliver Dench, grandson of Jeffery, who recently did a one-man “Hamlet.” On the 24 tracks, the stars each perform well-known snippets from Hamlet, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Henry V, The Winter’s Tale, Romeo and Juliet, Antony and Cleopatra, The Tempest, The Merchant of Venice, Richard III, and As You Like It, as well as sonnet selections.