Album: Gustavo Dudamel, Simon Bolivar Symphony Orchestra of Venezuelatchaikovsy: Shakespeare (Deutsche Grammophon)

Gustavo Dudamel's previous recording of Tchaikovsky's 5th Symphony and "Francesca da Rimini" demonstrated the Simon Bolivar Youth Orchestra of Venezuela's aptitude for the composer, which is confirmed with this trio of "Fantasies" inspired by Shakespeare plays. There's a spookily brooding Symphonic Fantasy based on The Tempest, while the company's youthful cast brings a suitably enthused spirit to the Fantasy Overture, based on Romeo and Juliet. But it's the Fantasy Overture based on Hamlet that most impresses here: the prince's tortured soul clearly offers fertile parallels with Tchaik-ovsky's own troubled temperament.

DOWNLOAD THIS: Hamlet; Romeo and Juliet; The Tempest