Biography
Collaboration between Elvis Costello and the Brodsky Quartet. Costello first encountered the Brodsky Quartet in 1989, at a performance at the Queen Elizabeth Hall of the entire cycle of string quartets by Dmitri Shostakovich. They met for the first time in November 1991, to begin work on the concept and execution of this album project. Costello viewed this album as neither his first stab at classical music, nor the Brodsky's first attempt at rock and roll.
With a concept of imaginary letters being sent to an imaginary recipient, Juliet Capulet, all five musicians contributed to the writing of the lyrics as well as the music. No overdubs were made, the album recorded in its entirety live in the studio. One single was released from the album, the track "Jacksons, Monk, and Rowe," although it did not chart in either the United States or the UK.
Biography text from Last.fm, available under CC BY-SA.