The Juliet Letters

Since 1935, people all over the world have been writing letters to the fictional character Juliet, addressed to the ancient monastery in Verona where, according to legend, Juliet died. What began as a stunt by the city of Verona to attract tourists has become a beloved tradition, and over 5,000 letters are received and answered each year by the Juliet Club. In the early 1990s, Elvis Costello and the Brodsky String Quartet (Michael Thomas, Ian Belton, Paul Cassidy, and Jacqueline Thomas) were inspired by the idea of this correspondence and jointly composed seventeen songs for voice and string quartet that explore the types of letters that might have been left at Juliet? tomb. In 2004, David Murray arranged these songs for voice and piano, breathing new life into them with new instrumentation and new accompaniments. Although different from the composers? initial conception, his goal was to maintain the original emotional intent underlying the songs rather than transcribing the original string parts note-for-note to the piano. This world-premiere recording will appeal to a broad fan base of customers who enjoy the music of Elvis Costello as well as aficionados of contemporary classical music. Michelle Murray, soprano, is a native of Connecticut whose dramatic and eclectic approach to the performance of vocal music has earned her both critical and popular acclaim. Her singing has been described as "First-rate ? engaging and authentic" by New York Concert Review and "alive and full-blooded" by the Arizona Republic. Pianist David Murray, a native of Missouri, has become a highly sought after solo and collaborative performer, described as "the perfect collaborator" by New York Concert Review and as a "nimble, expressive, hand-in-glove accompanist" by the Arizona Republic.