We are very proud to feature a rarely heard song by Shostakovich, performed by counter-tenor Hamish McLaren (Freeman) and pianist Matthew Jorysz. Desdemona’s Romance uses the words of Shakespeare’s The Willow Song which features in Act Four of Othello. Shostakovich composed this setting in the 1950s, for the Soviet biopic film Belinsky, however, it was cut from the final edit and only rediscovered and published four years ago. The clip is introduced by Hamish, who was a choral scholar at Cambridge and graduated from postgraduate studies at the Royal Academy of Music with a Distinction in 2019. He has now embarked on a professional singing career, building on the many solo performances he undertook whilst studying. For more details visit his website.
© The Fishmongers’ Company 2024
