Great Historical Shakespeare Recordings and a Miscellany [Audiobook] [Audio CD]

William Shakespeare (Author), Various Artists (Performer)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 2000 | ISBN-10: 9626342005 | ISBN-13: 978-9626342008

This unique and unusual compilation contains some of the greatest recordings from the beginning of the recording era. It includes a wide range of the works of Shakespeare, featuring Henry Irving, Ellen Tracy, Herbert Beerbohm Tree, John Barrymore, John Gielgud, Sybil Thorndike, Hugh Casson, Laurence Olivier and many more, with other memorable performances from Charles Laughton, Edith Evans, Laurel & Hardy, Bransby Williams, Dylan Thomas, Sarah Bernhardt, and others.

--This text refers to the Audio Cassette edition.

Editorial Reviews

From AudioFile

Despite hit-and-miss restoration, this is a delight for the theater buff, cultural historian, and acting professional. The first cassette includes speeches from Shakespeare recorded from 1896 to the 1940s, recited by the most notable actors of the day--Sir Henry Irving, the greatest of the Victorian actor-managers; Ellen Terry, his leading lady; a very young Gielgud; Olivier; Dame Sybil Thorndyke; the American Edwin Booth, John Wilkes's brother; and the Great Profile, John Barrymore; among others. The second cassette presents a miscellaneous collection of theatre and vaudeville--notably Noel Coward and Gertrude Lawrence (the first Anna in THE KING AND I) in the former's musical comedy PRIVATE LIVES; Coquelin, the original stage Cyrano, reading from that play in French; a turn by Laurel and Hardy; and the legendary Sarah Bernhardt. Obviously, some of these performances will seem overblown and dated, but others still possess considerable power. Naxos has spaced its signature classical music bridges to give the ear a rest from the often scratchy recordings, which have been lifted from old discs, wax cylinders, movie sound tracks, and radio broadcasts. Y.R. Winner of AUDIOFILE Earphones Award. © AudioFile 2001, Portland, Maine-- Copyright © AudioFile, Portland, Maine --This text refers to the Audio Cassette edition.

Product Details

• Audio CD: 5 pages
• Publisher: Naxos Audiobooks (August 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 9626342005
• ISBN-13: 978-9626342008
• Product Dimensions: 4.9 x 5.6 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #600,832 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #24 in Books > Books on CD > Authors, A-Z > ( S ) > Shakespeare, William

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

19 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Shakespeare is pricessless, September 8, 2000

By 

F. Behrens "Frank Behrens" (Keene, NH USA) - See all my reviews
(HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Great Historical Shakespeare Recordings and a Miscellany (Audio CD)

Of especial interest to students of the theatre and certainly to actors is a Naxos collection of <Great Historical Shakespeare Recordings and a Miscellany> (NA 220012) on two CDs or tapes.

The first one gives us the voices of such Shakespearean luminaries as Herbert Beerbohm Tree, Arthur Bourchier, Lewis Waller, Frank Benson, Johnston Forbes Robertson, John Gielgud, Sybil Thorndike, Lewis Casson, John Barrymore, Laurence Olivier, Henry Irving, Edwin Booth, and Ellen Terry. The last three are preserved on cylinders and the Booth one is scarcely audible. All of these readings are in the grand style, and it is instructive to compare the "Once more unto the breach" of Waller and Benson with that of Olivier. Terry's youthful delivery belies her age, but too many of the readers came to the recording session far past their prime. Still, this is living history and utterly fascinating as such.

The "Miscellany" is a mixed bag indeed. We have pairs of actors such as Noel Coward and Gertrude Lawrence in "Private Lives," Fred Terry and Julia Neilson in a poorly chosen scene from "The Scarlet Pimpernel," John Gielgud and Edith Evans in the marvelous handbag scene from "The Importance of Being Earnest," and even Laurel and Hardy recording in London. (Strange bedfellows indeed.)

Solo "turns" are performed by Tree as Svengali, Bransby Williams imitating Irving in "The Bells" and several (then) notable theatre personalities in his monologue "The Stage Doorkeeper," Henry Ainley reading "The Charge of the Light Brigade," and Charles Laughton reading (of all things) The Gettysburg Address (from the film "Ruggles of Red Gap").

The last foreign-language selections will not be of great interest to many listeners and of immense interest to students of European acting styles. We have Sarah Bernhardt reading "Phedre," Jean Mournet-Sully as Oedipus (in French), Constant Coquelin, the original Cyrano, racing through the Ballade of the Duel, Feodor Chaliapin reading a poem in a language I cannot identify, and Alexander Moissi doing excellent readings from "Faust" and the "Erlkoenig."

The notes are brief but informative and were written by David Timson, whose "History of Theatre" is also available on Naxos and reviewed on its appropriate web site.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars An Invaluable Resource, June 27, 2009

By 

PAUL MEIER "Paul Meier" (Lawrence, Kansas, USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Great Historical Shakespeare Recordings and a Miscellany (Audio CD)

As a text coach for Shakespeare productions, and a professor who trains actors to deal with heightened text, I found this collection of historical recordings invaluable in giving us a sense of the way Shakespeare performance styles have evolved since the advent of recorded speech. I wish I had been able to reference it in my recent eBook, Voicing Shakespeare; I would have loved to have invited comparison between the the techniques I teach in the eBook and the techniques we hear in Irving, Terry, Gielgud, and Olivier. But it will certainly be useful used in conjunction with my Accents and Dialects for Stage and Screen (includes 12 CDs), in which I use Shakespeare monologues extensively. I will certainly be using this disc in my master classes to provide a historical context for the performance styles and techniques I explore.

3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Unique and superbly presented, January 10, 2001

By 

Midwest Book Review (Oregon, WI USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Great Historical Shakespeare Recordings (Historical Recordings) (Audio Cassette)

The Naxos production of Great Historical Shakespeare Recordings offers the listener a unique and superbly presented compilation of some of the greatest recordings of Shakespearean material dating from the very beginnings of the recording era. Here you will find Shakespeare being recited by such legends of the stage as Henry Irving, Ellen Terry, Herbert Beerbohm Tree, John Barrymore, John Gielgud, Sybil Thorndike, Hugh Cassohn, Laurence Olivier, and many more. Also included are performances by such unlikely but gifted Shakespearean performers as Charles Laughton, Edith Evans, Laurel and Hardy, Bransby Williams, Dylan Thomas, Sarah Bernhardt, and others. In addition to Shakespeare enthusiasts and scholars, Great Historical Shakespeare Recordings is highly recommended to students and the non-specialist general listener who would enjoy sampling the variety of impressive performances over the past several decades.