Customer Reviews

Be Thou Now Persuaded: Living In A Shakespearean World [Spoken Word]

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Long ago,before the age of home VCRs,the only way one could experience a Shakespeare performance ,whenever they wished,was to go to a better-than-average record store and head straight for the Spoken Word section,where there would be a generous supply of complete Shakespeare plays and recordings of other author's works. The most notable label in this field was Caedmon Records,a label exclusively devoted to spoken word LP's,all of them featuring such noted actors as Sir Ralph Richardson,Paul Scofield,Claire Bloom,Albert Finney,etc.Occasionally another label,such as Columbia or RCA Victor would record a noted stage production of a play--Columbia had Richard Burton's "Hamlet" and the Paul Robeson "Othello",and RCA Victor had the Laurence Olivier "Othello",as well as Zeffirelli's stage production of "Much Ado About Nothing". But with the advent of the VCR,most of these albums disappeared altogether, since one could now buy or rent famous Shakespeare films on video,many of which were superior to these albums. (Olivier's "Othello", out on video for three years now,and with almost the identical cast as his stage version,is an example---the LP suffered from too-distant miking--the microphones were hidden,and the performance was totally acted to insure a dynamic performance, rather than read from a script--but the film features close-up sound recording,as well as more subtle acting in most cases.)

However, the all-knowing CD manufacturers decided that CD's are mainly for music,which dealt a further blow to these priceless albums,many of which (Shaw's 1950 "Don Juan In Hell" and the staged reading of Benet's "John Brown's Body",both irreplaceable,unfilmed performances) seem to still be consigned to oblivion.

There now seems to be hope. For the first time since the advent of CD's a high-profile recording company,Ted Turner's Rhino Records,has jumped into the battle to restore these albums to the public.They have issued a huge 6-CD package featuring nearly every great Shakespereran actor that ever made a Shakespeare recording,in excerpts from nearly ALL of Shakespeare plays that range from sound bites to whole scenes. Much of this is truly rare stuff----John Barrymore in two of his most famous solliloquies from "Hamlet", Paul Robeson and José Ferrer in a scene from "Othello", as well as the hilariously outdated and hammily acted Maurice Evans-Judith Anderson 1930's stage performance of "Macbeth"--Evans,familiar to moviegoers as Dr.Zaius in "Planet of the Apes",and TV viewers as Samantha's father in "Bewitched",was once very highly regarded as a Shakesperean actor.He is Shakespeare's worst nightmare,the embodiment of the 19th century actor who uproariously "sings" the verse---John Gielgud exaggerated to the Nth degree.

The bulk of this collection,however, comes from the Caedmon catalog,and although one CAN see superior versions of these plays on video, it is truly gratifying that Ted Turner--of all people---has played an important role in transferring LP Shakespeare to CD. Maybe Heritage Masterworks (on Sony) will take the hint and get to work on "Don Juan In Hell". Another CD company has already beaten them to the Robeson "Othello".

I have several CD compilations of Shakespeare, including the double CD put out by the BBC and I find this one to be the most pleasing to the ear. With much of Shakespeare (especially the lesser known plays) you have to listen to a lot of fatigue-inducing, archaic, plot propelling passages, before you get to the dream stuff that enlightens and transforms you. The editors of this collection trim out all the fat and offer the choice meat (or if you are a vegetarian, you get the eggplant minus the lima beans). There are all kinds of gems here that I never heard of before I got this collection, that amuse and enflame, even some saucy lines I tried out on my wife. (Her pretty eyes sparkled like a Christmas tree--oh you should have seen her lovely smile...)