The Complete Arkangel Shakespeare: 38 Fully-Dramatized Plays [Box set] [Audio CD]

William Shakespeare (Author), Eileen Atkins (Narrator), Joseph Fiennes (Narrator), John Gielgud (Narrator), Imogen Stubbs (Narrator)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 31, 2003 | ISBN-10: 1932219005 | ISBN-13: 978-1932219005 | Edition: Unabridged

For the first time in audio publishing history, all of Shakespeare's plays are available in one extraordinary, definitive collection. Based on The Complete Pelican Shakespeare, here are all of the master's 38 plays, complete and unabridged, fully dramatized on CDs with an original score and sound design for each play. A monumental project that spanned five years and cost $3 million, The Complete Arkangel Shakespeare represents the collective vision of four people: Shakespeare scholar Tom Treadwell, film producer Bill Shepherd, BBC director Clive Brill, and composer Dominique Le Gendre. Together they have assembled the 400 great actors of the British theater and produced a landmark digital recording with a sophisticated layering of sound that immerses the listener in Shakespeare's world.

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

Grade 9 Up--The Complete Arkangel Shakespeare offers listeners the first-ever audio set of all 38 of William Shakespeare's plays, unabridged and fully-dramatized. Using a cast of almost 400 actors, most of whom trained at the Royal Shakespeare Company, this set offers Shakespeare in a manner that provides the best of both worlds: the convenient mobility of the audio format and classic, dramatic readings by skilled Shakespearean actors that are reminiscent of Sir Laurence Olivier's Shakespearean performances. Sound effects are skillfully layered and add to the intensity of the pieces as they are presented. The quality of these CDs is remarkable. The diction is clear, the emotions are strong, and the sound effects are well-chosen, easily creating the worlds of the plays in listeners minds. The major drawback for school and public libraries is that the entire series must be purchasedâ€"plays are not available on an individual basis. Since most high schools teach only four Shakespearean playsâ€"Hamlet, Macbeth, Julius Caesar, and Romeo and Julietâ€"purchasing this series in its entirety is a major investment that might be better suited to university libraries and drama departments. Public libraries can purchase the entire series for use by college students and adults as well as high school students. Any library that does purchase this exceptionally well-done, impressive masterwork will enjoy it for years to come since Audio Partners has a lifetime replacement policy.--Heather J. Stockwell, Leach Library, Londonderry, NH
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From AudioFile

This dramatization is strongest at the strangest and most intense moments of this great tragedy. When Macbeth meets the weird sisters, when Lady Macbeth reveals her soul in a monologue, or when the forces clash in battle, this dramatization is hypnotic. The performances are first rate, and the sound quality is varied and nicely layered; each character speaks in a different cadence, with some difference in accent, and multiple background sound effects (a horn, the wind) combine to suggest a lively world without obscuring the core dialogue. However, the more mundane moments-the planning, the consideration-are harder to follow, and harder to care about, with no actors to watch. G.T.B. [Selection from The Complete Arkangel Shakespeare set.] © AudioFile 2004, Portland, Maine-- Copyright © AudioFile, Portland, Maine

Product Details

• Audio CD
• Publisher: BBC Audiobooks America; Unabridged edition (March 31, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1932219005
• ISBN-13: 978-1932219005
• Product Dimensions: 7.8 x 5.5 x 17.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 10.8 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (16 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #750,706 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #31 in Books > Books on CD > Authors, A-Z > ( S ) > Shakespeare, William

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

75 of 77 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Get it. Period. June 10, 2003

By Christopher H. Hodgkin

Amazon Verified Purchase

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.

68 of 71 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars A monumental project with flaws but immense overall value June 12, 2003

By F. Behrens HALL OF FAME

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.

38 of 38 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Thrilling Drama April 24, 2003

By A Customer

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.