Hamlet (BBC Radio Presents) [Abridged, Audiobook] [Audio Cassette]

William Shakespeare (Author), Kenneth Branagh (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0553472259 | ISBN-13: 978-0553472257 | Publication Date: November 1, 1993

Among Shakespeare's plays, Hamlet is considered by many his masterpiece. Among actors, the role of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark, is considered the jewel in the crown of a triumphant theatrical career. Now Kenneth Branagh plays the leading role and co-directs a brillant ensemble performance. Three generations of legendary leading actors, many of whom first assembled for the Oscar-winning film Henry V, gather here to perform the rarely heard complete version of the play. This clear, subtly nuanced, stunning dramatization, presented by The Renaissance Theatre Company in association with Bbc Broadcasting, features such luminaries as Sir John Gielgud, Derek Jacobi, Emma Thompson and Christopher Ravenscroft. It combines a full cast with stirring music and sound effects to bring this magnificent Shakespearen classic vividly to life. Revealing new riches with each listening, this production of Hamlet is an invaluable aid for students, teachers and all true lovers of Shakespeare -- a recording to be treasured for decades to come.

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

It is a tragedy that all actors seem to crave to perform, and the Renaissance Theatre Company clearly relishes the chance to present Hamlet for the ear. It is a contemporary cast from which one has come to expect superior Shakespearean acting on stage and screen: Kenneth Branagh as Hamlet; Sir John Gielgud as the Ghost; Derek Jacobi as Claudius; and Emma Thompson as the Player Queen. Unlike the Recorded Books version (Audio Reviews, LJ 8/90), this BBC edition may be a little hard to follow by those unfamiliar with the play's text, particularly since stage directions are not provided and speakers are not clearly identified. But the program does give the complete version, a rare treat, and the accompanying booklet offers insights into both the acting and the production. Highly recommended.
- Joyce Kessel, Villa Maria Coll., Buffalo, N.Y.
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Review

Praise for William Shakespeare: Complete Works:

“A feast of literary and historical information.”
-The Wall Street Journal


From the Trade Paperback edition.

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Product Details

• Audio Cassette
• Publisher: Random House Audio (November 1, 1993)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0553472259
• ISBN-13: 978-0553472257
• Product Dimensions: 7.1 x 4.4 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (209 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,263,709 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #16 in Books > Books on Cassette > Authors, A-Z > ( S ) > Shakespeare, William
  • #92 in Books > Books on Cassette > Literature & Fiction > Poetry, Drama & Short Stories

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

44 of 57 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Golden Gate to Shakespeare, January 24, 2006

By 

Night Owl - See all my reviews

This review is from: Hamlet (No Fear Shakespeare) (Paperback)

Bravo to the writers, editors, and publishers of the entire No Fear Shakespeare series. Rendering Shakespeare into prosaic, colloquial American English not only explains what Shakespeare was saying, but reveals how much better he said it! Here's a few examples from HAMLET:

Hamlet sees the Ghost, but his mother doesn't. In modern lingo, she says, "This is only a figment of your imagination." That's a cliche. In the original, she says, "This is the very coinage of your brain." That's vivid.

Rosencrantz tells Hamlet in modern lingo, "You're not doing yourself any good by refusing to tell your friends what's bothering you." Sounds like a reprimand. The original line sounds like a threat: "You do surely bar the door upon your own liberty if you deny your griefs to your friend."

Hamlet remembers his mother's relationship with his father: "She would hang on to him, and the more she was with him the more she wanted to be with him; she couldn't get enough of him." Sounds good, but the original sounds disturbing: "Why, she would hang on him / As if increase of appetitite had grown / By what it fed on . . ." Change the word "she" to "it" and you have the image of a parasite. That alone says a lot about Hamlet's view of women and sex.

I know of no better guide to reading, understanding, and appreciating Shakespeare than Spark Notes' No Fear Shakespeare series.

47 of 65 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Key Tool for Students and Teachers, January 4, 2000

By 

Dr. Patrick D. Enright (Tahlequah, OK, USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Hamlet (Shakespeare Made Easy) (Paperback)

All in all (not all and all, as one reviewer has it; people who write such things [and then place unnecessary commas between subjects and verbs] have no credibility), "Hamlet" is one of Shakespeare's greatest tragedies, a sophisticated play which, among many other things, casts an ironic eye on those tragedy-of- blood conventions which the Bard had embraced wholeheartedly in "Titus Andronicus." Its witty, urbane, generous hero, whose struggle to balance his father's demand for bloody revenge (one of those conventions) with his own humanistic sensibilities forms a major conflict of the play, has intrigued audiences and readers for four centuries. Unfortunately for Shakespeare and his creations, the English language has changed over the past four hundred years, and people have gotten out of the habit of reading and understanding poetry. This is where Alan Durband's edition of "Hamlet" in the Barron's Books "Shakespeare Made Easy" series comes to the rescue of the inexperienced reader. Its modern "translation" of Shakespeare's text is readable and clear, making this masterpiece approachable for those who find Elizabethan English too thorny. Having watched college freshmen struggle with "Hamlet" for some twelve years, and having discovered the Barron's edition during the summer, I strongly recommended the book this past fall as a supplement to the assigned literature anthology. About half the students in my Freshman Comp classes bought the book, either from the university book store or from amazon.com. (Amazon's price was better.) To my great pleasure, I found that more students than at any time before were asking questions in class, answering my own questions with knowledge and insight, and even debating points of interpretation among themselves. It was the most fun I have ever had teaching "Hamlet," outside of a Shakespeare course. So now my syllabus suggests this book as an important supplement, and now I look forward to teaching "Hamlet" with confidence that many of the students will be able to experience the enthusiasm for literature that educators so dearly love to communicate. Any book that can facilitate such enthusiasm is high on my list, and I hope it will be high on yours as well.

15 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Brilliant Performance....., November 19, 2003

By 

L. Shirley "Laurie's Boomer Views" (Huntington Beach,CA) - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Hamlet (Audio Cassette)

This review refers to the Caedmon Audio/Full Cast Recording edition(HarperCollins) of "Hamlet"....

The first thing I need to clarify is exactly which audio edition this is. If you are on the product page with a light purple box pictured, this is the 1963, full cast recording, complete play in 5 acts, starring Paul Scofield as "Hamlet.It is not, as the audio file editorial states the one with Kenneth Branagh and Emma Thompson. And if the Scofield performance is what you'd like to hear, you are in for a real treat.(You can enlarge the product picture to see a better view of the box)

The entire cast including Diana Wynyard as Gertrude,Roland Culver as Claudius, Donald Houston as Laertes and Zena Walker as Ophelia turn in powerful performances and will captivate your imagination no matter how many versions of this brilliant play you have heard, or seen. Paul Scofield("A Man For All Seasons") is masterful as the complex Hamlet, wanting revenge for his father's death, yet torn by his own conscience.

There are so many different versions of Shakespeare's "Hamlet", and on this taped set you will find a performance worthy of his genius.It is one you will want to listen to many times and well worth the price. After listening to it at home, I now bring it with me in my car to keep me company in traffic and on long trips.

This three tape set(6 sides) has the entire play, Ronsencrantz and Guildenstern included,in five acts. The entire play runs about 3 1/2 hours, each side of the tapes running between 30 to 45 minutes. The scenes are nicely seperated by music and the sound quality remastered(1995) in Dolby B is excellent.Although the tapes are not enclosed in their own cassette cases, there are individual cardboard holders inside the box for each.

A brilliant performance that you will remember, and one we are fortunate to have on these fabulous recordings.

more great audio book experiences:
Great Expectations (The Classic Collection)
The London Tapes (City Tapes)
Carrie
The Shipping News
A Christmas Carol
Les Miserables (Focus on the Family Radio Theatre)



Enjoy...Laurie