Customer Reviews

The Complete Arkangel Shakespeare: 38 Fully-Dramatized Plays

5 star:		(14)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

If you have to empty your penny jar, if you have to cash in your IRA, do so. Get this. These are absolutely superb recordings of some of the best English ever written and some of the most memorable characters ever created. So you don't recognize every word. Doesn't matter. The excellent actors carry you along and draw you intimately into the drama.

You can follow the play in text if you choose to -- they follow the readily available Complete Pelikan Shakespeare. But you don't need to -- if you aren't familiar with a play the brief four or five line summaries of each scene in the small fold-out accompanying each play are quite sufficient to know which characters are involved. It's possible to listen to these while driving, but you can't concentrate fully unless you're totally stuck in traffic. My number one recommendation is to take a Walkman and a pair of headphones to a hammock under a tree and indulge yourself. Second best is a comfy easy chair.

However you listen to these, do get them and listen to them. Or persuade your local library to get the set.

The price -- ...-- seems high until you figure that this is 38 complete plays -- less than the cost of the same play in paperback -- and there are a total of 83 disks, so you're paying just $5 per disk. Cheap! And these aren't some pop music you'll listen to once; these are a lifetime investment for yourself and your family.

Get it. Period.

To Buy or Not to Buy!

Educators, lovers of theatre and great literature--take note! Late in the 1990s, Harper Row began to release on cassettes the Arkangel Complete Shakespeare, all of which I reviewed in one paper or another. Using some of the best of the young theatrical talent in Great Britain and some of the older established stars of stage and screen, the producers gave us readings of every single word of every single play by Shakespeare, including the seldom-performed "Two Noble Kinsmen" which is partially by Shakespeare.

Well, hold on! Audio Partners has been contracted to release the entire set on CDs. The trick is that you cannot purchase the individual sets but are required to purchase the entire package of 38 plays for $600. That is 98 CDs in all with a playing time of just over 101 hours! Libraries and school departments take note.

Hearing them as they were released on tape in batches of four or five, I was impressed mostly with the enormity of the project but found some things to quibble about. Casting Oberon and Titania with a pair whose voices were South African or Jamaican (no Henry Higgins, I) made some sense in that it emphasized their other-worldly-ness. So did assigning Malvolio in "Twelfth Night" to an actor with a distinct Scottish accent, but giving Mercutio in "Romeo and Juliet" to the same actor was absurd. Then too there is that sudden sound effect of a train pulling out of a station in the middle of "All's Well That Ends Well"! Granted there was a production current then that did place the play in more modern times, but when one is hearing a recording with no clue as to setting, the result was jarring and should have been omitted.

In the grander roles such as Hamlet, Othello and the like, the younger actors give modern readings which might strike some as slighting demands of the high poetry. And those who long for the grander readings can turn to the re-releases of the old Shakespeare Recording Society sets.

One great disadvantage to the cassettes is that you could locate a specific scene only with much fast forwarding. With CDs, of course, you can jump to any scene by pressing the Skip button on your player. When a scene continues onto another disc, the tracking list tells you at which line the scene picks up.

The price might be prohibitive to all but an institution--but I feel that every library should find its way to purchasing the complete set in much the same way that many purchased the complete set of BBC Shakespeare videos.

These performances will keep you spellbound. There is something profound and amazing about listening to this Shakespeare, probably owing to the combination of perfect sound; nuanced, captivating, stellar acting; and fully comprehending the magic of The Bard's words. The quality of the recording is impeccable - there are no glitches, and the volume-level is consistent. Listening on my CD player at home, and following along with the text (not included with the CDs), I feel like I'm "getting" Shakespeare, and being moved by his words, like never before. I even find this listening more satisfying than seeing a Shakespeare play because I can better grasp and appreciate every line. The acting is first-rate (most actors are well-recognized RSC alumns, many of whom have become respected British film stars - ahem - Joseph Fiennes, Ciaran Hinds, Simon Russell Beale, Amanda Root, to name a few), and the clarity of the production picks up the most delicate subtleties of each performance. The background music complements and enhances each play, but isn't obtrusive. I wholeheartedly recommend this set - it will take you to a new level with Shakespeare.

I give this project five stars, but a qualified five. Like one of the other reviewers, I agree: there were certain scenes/characters I would have liked to hear performed differently, but considering the enormity of the project, 100% sustained satifaction seems an unreasonable expectation (indeed, the bard himself has some weak moments across the 38 plays--he was only human, after-all). And I would have liked it if the nondramatic poetry were included (there are several wonderful recordings of the sonnets available--I recommend Helen Vendler's rather introspective performance and Alex Jennings has recorded a fine complete version of the same--he also plays Berowne in the Arkangel "Love's Labor's Lost", a fine touch, considering the connections between the sonnets and that play!). But overall, how can you argue with an effort like this? Shakespeare is the greatest poet the Western world has known, and these recordings give overwhelming support to that critical commonplace. As literary values change (decline?), the eminence of Shakespeare becomes more important. To hear these plays is to hear the english language bursting at the seams. To know these plays is to know what poetry is capable of, which is nothing less than a sanction of life. And the audio format is perfect for poetry, which MUST be heard. Long live the audiobook!

Some notable strengths of this collection include, first & formost, the use of reliable, unabridged texts. An industrious student, armed with the Pelican Shakespeare, can become intimately familiar with Shakespeare's glory. The sound engineers deserve special praise, they have created a most sophisticated aural enviroment: these recordings love the headphones. I recommend some fine wine, candles, and comfy furniture. My love and I have been transported nightly for weeks, and it has been an incomparable bonding experience for us. Also lovely is the original music by Le Gendre, who helps us to realize that the Bard also wrote the most memorable songs in English. Overall, the acting is well balanced between serving the poetry and serving the drama--which is as it should be. I could go on, but I'm tired. It is a fine investment for lovers, for families, for school-children, for adults, or for solitary dreamers. Shut off the idiot box: strongly recommended!

I have studied, listened to, and viewed Shakespeare's plays in all available formats for thirty years and I am thoroughly pleased with the Archangel Complete Shakespeare audio. Having listened now to Hamlet and Macbeth, I judge these two productions to be perhaps the best vocal interpretations I have heard ever, any where. They are easy to listen to and easy to understand. The actors interpretations are neither over-done nor under-done. If the remaining plays are as good, this production of the totality of the plays is a gift to scholars and to groundlings as well. Thank you Archangel et al.

This is a gorgeous production that is indeed a treasure. I listen with a Creative Zen Vision player and every word is delicious. I have enjoyed the first seven plays, thru Hamlet, and every nuance, every word, every inflection, pause, sound, background music theme and all the audio panorama makes every minute an absolute delight. I am now in a quandary about whether to continue listening thru the series or begin again to search among the endless audio treasures for gems I might have missed. This Arkangle series is a gift from the gods and worth many times its price. This kind of talent, dedication and flawless performance beggars description.

I can't say enough about this collection. This is an absolutely astounding collection of all of Shakespeare's play, uncut and unabridged, performed by some of England's most talented actors an actresses, as some of the other descriptions and reviews speak of.

What I have found invaluably rewarding as a Shakespeare devotee and as a actor is to follow along to Shakespeare's text while listening to these incredible recordings. I did this for a Shakespeare course in college. We'd be assigned a play to read within a week, and within 2 hours, I'd have it all read, while hearing it performed on these amazing recordings. To hear Shakespeare's words spoken as they would have been originally heard nearly 400 years allows for a greater understanding of the composition and the rhythm of the dialogue and verse. It simply does not get any better than this.

I'd highly recommend this collection. The producers of the Arkangel Shakespeare have obviously taken great care in preserving the text of the play and by employing the best of classically trained actors, the greatest works of English literature, filled with characters and words will blossom in your mind's eye. I cannot imagine any library being complete without this collection, and it is nothing short of a delight to have for your own personal library.

Do not hesitate to consider purchasing this collection for your public or collegiate library, or for yourself. It is a hallmark in the canon of comtemporary presentations of Shakespeare's complete works.

This was my Christmas present this year, and I can't stop looking at it. It's almost overwhelming to decide which play to grab and listen to in the car on my drive to work. These are wonderful productions with clear, crisp sound and excellent actors. The classical training is obvious, and many will recognize the names of actors, espcially fans of BBC television. Ciaran Hinds as Antony in Antony and Cleopatra is wonderful. He's also in The Winter's Tale. For any fan of Shakespeare this is a terrific investment. For teachers of British literature it is also a wonderful classroom resource.

This collection of recordings is really outstanding. The other reviewers have done an excellent job of articulating the strengths and minor weaknesses of the renditions, so I will not duplicate their efforts here. My main point is that at about $400+ for this series of CDs I would recommend that you first check you local library for a copy, and if they do not have it yet in their collection encourage them to do so (from Amazon of course!). That way you can sample an entire play or two before you pluck down your cash for the complete set. Unfortunately for those of use who prefer to listen now to their audio via an MP3 player, you will find that the titles on the disks are done very inconsistenly, and occasionally just wrong. So make sure that you check each disk after you make the conversion to ensure that the titles are correct and in a form that you can properly use. Don't forget about donating a set to your local libarary too, to share this great set of recordings with those who are just discovering Shakespeare.

The Arkangel Shakespeare is one of the best investments I've ever made. Both the dramatic and technical quality of the recordings are excellent. Buy the collection yourself and discover why listening to Shakespeare is so much more rewarding than merely reading Shakespeare.