Customer Reviews

Macbeth

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

 

 

There are four recordings of this play available and I feel this Harper Audio version is by far the best. If for no other reason, it preserves the poetry of Shakespeare's lines far more than do any of the others, thanks mostly to Anthony Quayle's reading. The rest of the cast are all veteran classical actors who know what they are about. And thankfully the director decided to forget about annoying Scottish accents! Grab this one and give some as gifts.

We begin with a man who, to all outward appearances, is noble, honorable, and admirable. We watch as his ambition drives him to murder, murder drives him to anguish, and fear and envy drive him to further murders. As he wades deeper in blood he begins to recognize by degrees that all his struggles will end in rack and ruin. We can sympathize with him up to a point, but when he kills MacDuff's wife and children, he loses all claim upon our compassion. There is, however, a certain nobility to be found in fighting a lost cause to the bitter end. Leonidas at Thermopylae, Travis at the Alamo -- both command our respect. MacBeth redeems himself somewhat when, recognizing MacDuff as his Nemesis, he stands his ground and goes down fighting.

The sound quality of the Harper Audio edition suffers in comparison to the Harper Audio edition of "Julius Caesar". The dialog was crisp and clear in "Julius Caesar", but "MacBeth's" was somewhat difficult to understand in places. Anthony Quayle turns in a workmanlike performance as the title character, but he did much better as Brutus in "Julius Caesar". Whatever the minor shortcomings of the audio edition, MacBeth stands as one of the greatest tragedies to come from Shakespeare's (or anyone else's) pen, and the experience of listening to the play is more pleasurable than reading it or (to me at least) watching it performed on videotape. The only thing better than listening to the tape is watching a live performance by a talented cast.

This product was great. It helped my students and I read and comprehend Macbeth so much better than us trying to read it and comprehend it. The actors voices are great! I think they do a great job being the characters on tape!