William Shakespeare
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By: Oxford University Press, USA
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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 54
Average rating: 4.5 of 5
THE BBC RADIO GIELGUD AUDIOBOOK IS NOT ABRIDGED BUT FIRST FOLIO ONLY LIKE THE NAXOS 4 out of 5 stars.
2 of 3 people found this review helpful.
The only thing which mars this otherwise excellent Bantam Doubleday Dell Audio Publishing Renaissance Theatre Company King Lear with Sir John Gielgud (in around 1993), Dame Judith (formerly Judi) Dench, Bob Hoskins, Kenneth Brannagh, DEREK JACOBI, etc. is that following the academic fashion of that moment, it is First Folio only.
It is NOT abridged as indicated on the amazon product page. It is First Folio only. Otherwise it is overwhelming and excellent and demanding of repeated listenings.
For this reason alone the best recording we have available is the Caedmon recording King Lear in the Quarto or conflated version with the earlier Paul Scofield. Notice this is not the later Naxos Scofield recording King Lear (Naxos AudioBooks), which is most lamentably like this Gielgud, First Folio only.
The producers of these late recordings by Scofield and Gielgud wasted their final talent and experience doing a then currently academically correct First Folio-only recording. In the 36 page booklet which accompanies this Gielgud recording, the long experienced Fool, Michael Williams mentions politely that his best lines are cut. THe first brotherly banter between Edmund and Edgar (with the greatest joke in Shakespeare: "Since when are you a sectary astronomical?" Edgar's only joke) is lost, severely marring the play, as well as the enacting of a trial for the sisters in the straw hut: "I mistook you for a joint stool!" The Fool's best line: cut!
Basically the brochure enclosed reports no more than the fact this is First Folio only, and pages of bios of the actors and director with reflections on their performance. Cornwall at the time of this recording was presenting the part of Lear and wonders at Gielgud saying HIS lines. Also in the brochure are some overwrought black and white photos of earnest looking actors, and a few refreshing comments by Bob Hoskins and the Fool. Derek Jacobi has no comment.
I got two copies of this recording when I discovered my first purchase had no brochure. This head-shot brochure is not necessary for appreciation of the recording, but now I happily have a copy for the home and for the truck, without danger of the precautioned and unwanted FBI interference for illegal copying. May God bless amazon.com!
What a cast! Derek Jacobi (he of I, Claudius, of the saintly medical Brother Cadfael: Monk's Hook, The Leper of St. Giles, The Sanctuary Sparrow, One Corpse Too Many and of the mobster Duke in Mr. Alex Cox's Revengers Tragedy) presents an interesting if brief King of France, for once with a French accent which nevertheless occasionally slips into a Bela Lugosi imitation.
Bob Hoskins, best known here only for Who Framed Roger Rabbit, presents an interestingly husky Oswald, normally played as a weak courtier, here with a fresh take altogether, very effectively. It is worth hearing him, if only for his native cockney, but moreso for his excellent presentation of the otherwise despicable Oswald.
Dame Judith Dench is strong of course as Goneril, and strives to flesh out her evil role, as she describes in the brochure. Dench may be remembered from Macbeth / McKellen, Dench (Thames Shakespeare Collection) and Shakespeare in Love (Miramax Collector's Series), William Shakespeare's Hamlet (Two-Disc Special Edition) by Kenneth Branagh, etc., etc., etc.
Kenneth Branagh is well known for his numerous films of Shakespeare, as well as Mary Shelley's FRANKENSTEIN (1994) - WIDESCREEN VERSION! - Rare Original DVD release! - Branagh, De Niro and Woody Allen's Celebrity in which he plays Mr. Allen.
Sir John Gielgud, the magnificent, the greatest, is unfortunately, tragically, perhaps only known here for 10 as Dudley Moore's butler. He may also be seen in William Shakespear's Julius Caesar The Shaw Collection (Pygmalion / The Millionairess / Arms and the Man / The Devil's Disciple / Mrs. Warren's Profession / Heartbreak House), etc. Please read his Gielgud: An Actor and His Time: A Memoir.
In the Scofield recordings we hear the usual weary Paul Scofield playing King Lear.
Here we hear Lear, Lear alone, LEar entirely, as Gielgud IS Lear, in all his fullness.
If only the script enjoyed all of ITS fullness, with the First Quarto, and not just the First Folio version which had been censored for the royal censors of its day, excluding therefore the Fool's jokes about a monopoly on foolishness, as King James corruptly passed out monopolies to his favorites. If only the producers had taken Sir John for all he had done for sixty years upon the stage, and turned him loose, and not straitjacketed by First Folio-ness.
Editorial Review:
The Oxford School Shakespeare is a well-established series which helps students understand and enjoy Shakespeare's plays. As well as the complete and unabridged text, each play in this series has an extensive range of students' notes. These include detailed and clear explanations of difficult words and passages, a synopsis of the plot, summaries of individual scenes, and notes on the main characters. Also included is a wide range of questions and activities for work in class, together with the historical background to Shakespeare's England, a brief biography of Shakespeare, and a complete list of his plays. Roma Gill, the series editor, has taught Shakespeare at all levels. She has acted in and directed Shakespeare's plays, and has lectured on Shakespeare all over the world.
