A MIDSUMMER NIGHT'S DREAM for guitar with orchestra is not a concerto. I'd call it a ballet. It would be easy to imagine this lengthy suite being danced. I hear a mix of influences: a lot of mid-nineteenth century classical guitar music; Segovia repertoire such as Ponce, Castelnuovo-Tedesco and Villa-Lobos; impressionistic Genesis and some Bach. Given Steve's extraordinary melodic gift, the result is magical.

I'm surprised but not shocked by Hackett's proficiency with the classical guitar. His tone is warm and pleasing - a short nail sound. He doesn't yank at the strings as might be expected. His rhythm is sure, scales quick, voices clearly articulated, tremeloes fast and even, harmonics bright and... wow, what a vibrato! Only the arpeggios are uneven although most are very good.

There are 18 segments/tracks to this "ballet". Tracks 3-7, 10, and 18 are guitar solo. Tracks 1, 2, 8, 9, 11, 12 and 14-17 are Steve with the orchestra. In track 17, "Celebration", all are joined by a pipe organ. Only track 13, "Mountains Turned into Clouds", is exclusively orchestra. ALL of these segments are admirable composition beautifully and sensitively performed. My own favorite segment is track 15, "Starlight", which sounds like Humperdinck (the REAL one) meshed with Bach. It's such a sweet romantic melody, I could believe Christopher Parkening would enjoy playing it. Track 3, "By Paved Fountain" is a lovely tremelo piece. "Celebration" is wonderful, too and Steve's accompaniment reminds me of that in the Giuliani 1st Guitar Concerto.

I should say I'm usually unimpressed by rock guitarists' attempts at classical guitar, but Steve Hackett is not a rock guitarist; he's a guitarist... and a great musician.

One of the most phenomenal classical albums I've ever heard. I never tire of it, particularly tracks 12+, which take on a profound, contemplative tone. I recommend this to anyone who appreciates excellence in songwriting.

Anyone who's ever listened to one of Steve Hackett's "rock" albums would not be surprised to hear this tremendous work. The "classical" side of Hackett's phenomenal talent is apparent in every album of his. This one may be the best to date in that genre. I was introduced to nylon classical guitar at a very yound age, but only fell in love with the instrument after hearing Hackett play. If you love it too, buy this CD. If you don't--even if you could never imagine listening to an album of acoustic guitar--buy this CD anyway and marvel at the performance. Or give it as a gift.

This CD is a classical guitar concerto written by Steve Hackett. The guitar work on this CD is simply magnificent. Mr. Hackett makes the guitar sound like a pure work of art. I have never had this CD on for background music when it did not evoke a comment from the casual listener. For those of you who love Steve's rock work I would say listen to this CD to see the other side of him. He is truelly a guitar virtuoso. Words cannot do justice to the beauty of the music on this CD, it must be heard.

I have long been a fan of Steve Hacketts work. In this album a collection of short descriptive works concerning Shakespeare's famous play, Steve Hackett's melodious music is some of the best in the classical guitar field. There are some gripes I have though, which warrant a 1 star deduction. Steve uses too much rolling of the chords which serves only to break up the melody. Secondly, I don't know the full story behind this one--it may even be listed somewhere on the CD jacket, but there are melodies, passages etc, even whole sections which I believe were written for orchestra, and recorded by someone else about a decade ago. ( I will not use the word "P" word as again I don't know the full story).