Classic recordings showing what we've lost

These recordings date from the late 1950's to the mid 1960s. The lead parts are played by leading Shakespearian actors, the smaller parts by members of the Cambridge University Marlow Society.

Each play is done "straight". There is no agenda forced on it, and certainly no attempt to re-write or subvert the text. There is absolutely no diversity in the cast: the actors are all there on merit alone and they deliver their lines clearly and perfectly.

The age of the recordings and the changes in spoken English in the intervening half century mean that the "high" verse works better than "low" prose, but that's a small niggle. A more serious complaint is the lack of a proper cast list.

It seems to be virtually impossible to find a professional production of a Shakespeare play in England which respects the plays as these old recordings do. They are a reminder of what these plays could be if directors would stop virtue signalling and allow the plays to speak for themselves.

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Sets standards by which all others are judged!

This is the bargain of all bargains in the world. The greatest dramatic poetry of all time recorded by a team of outstanding actors under the direction of one of the leading Shakespearean scholars and directors. it's no exaggeration to suggest that these are the benchmark performances against which all others will be judged. The voices are exceptional for clarity of enunciation, unfailing sense of rhythm and grasp of the full poetic sense, acute awareness of what the words mean, suggest, imply... These actors really know the texts, which is not what we often hear in some recent productions. The audio quality is excellent, the economies are merely a matter of sound effects and range of music. The best possible present for any child, student or granny!

It's a terrible pity that Audible has so far not issued the companion set of wonderful recordings of great English poetry, Chaucer to Yeats, made by the same forces for the British Council. There are are very few such expert recordings of English poetry available.

The original recordings, which I have, are of Decca's finest audio quality. For some reason, Aidible has decided to transfer the recordings in much poorer quality sound. I agree with the reviewer who suggested that the trumpet calls should be muted.

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2 people found this helpful

Listing for 9 Part Download

The works are ordered alphabetically.
If you opt to download by parts, they are divided as follows (unfortunately Audible is not preserving my formatting) -


***PART 1***
A Midsummer Night's Dream
A Lover's Complaint and the Phoenix and the Turtle
All's Well That Ends Well
Anthony and Cleopatra
As You Like It
Coriolanus (Part 1)

***PART 2***
Coriolanus (Part 2)
Cymbeline
Hamlet
Henry IV Part 1
Henry IV Part 2 (Part 1)

***PART 3***
Henry IV Part 2 (Part 2)
Henry V
Henry VI Part 1
Henry VI Part 2
Henry VI Part 3 (Part 1)

***PART 4***
Henry VI Part 3 (Part 2)
Henry VIII
Julius Caesar
King John
King Lear
Love's Labour's Lost (Part 1)

***PART 5***
Love's Labour's Lost (Part 2)
Macbeth
Measure for Measure
Much Ado About Nothing
Othello
Pericles, Prince of Tyre (Part 1)

***PART 6***
Pericles, Prince of Tyre (Part 2)
Richard II
Richard III
Romeo and Juliet
Sonnets 1-71

***PART 7***
Sonnets 71 - 154
The Comedy of Errors
The Merchant of Venice
The Merry Wives of Windsor
The Rape of Lucrece
The Taming of the Shrew (Part 1)

***PART 8***
The Taming of the Shrew (Part 2)
The Tempest
The Twe Gentlemen of Verona
The Winter's Tale
Timon of Athens
Titus Andronicus
Troilus and Cressida (Part 1)

***PART 9***
Troilus and Cressida (Part 2)
Twelfth Night
Venus and Adonis

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197 people found this helpful

The plays are listed now!

I downloaded this, slightly concerned that I’d have to wade through every play to find what I needed. But the plays are listed once you download the book on the app (it’s split into 9 parts, and each part is divided into chapters, with the beginning and end of each play being clearly marked). It would be handy to have a master list of plays, in order to locate the part you need to download if you don’t have room for everything, but they are in alphabetical order so it’s easy to make an educated guess. Wonderful value to have all the plays together like this.

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56 people found this helpful

Okay

I love it but shame the majority of it sounds like it was recorded in a bathroom

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12 people found this helpful

Seems like a great bargain but isn't

I used my free download and was delighted to get the complete Shakespeare canon. Disappointed.

The plays are in alphabetical, not chronological or even thematic order. The track breaks are not between acts, and sometimes split scenes.

There is ne additional information or cast lists.

The sound is very flat. It sounds like it was recorded with a single microphone in the middle of the actors sat round in a circle. The performances vary in quality. The leads are usually well performed, but some minor parts either sound like a first read through for words or are delivered in mummerset "yokel".

And that random trumpet becomes irritating.

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3 people found this helpful

Art which irks not.

'Heaven doth with us as we with torches do'


When fullness in a time of empty hope
Does train our eyes to seldom look away
Tis all a'cause of conscious sacrifice
'Self' bites a dusty drought these days.

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1 person found this helpful

some chapters not in right order.

technical issues. much ado about nothing. chapter 4 is the start of the play..... chapter 1 is half way through! good job i knew the play or would have got very confused! hope I don't come across any more problems!

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29 people found this helpful

Able to view title of the plays on Android

I used an old and latest Android, and on both screens I could see the title of the plays, and they were further broken down into different chapters which I could also see on screen. I could listen to just the works I haven't seen or read.
On my very old iPod Touch I couldn't see the title of the plays but I don't have the latest Apple devices so I don't know what their screens show now.

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6 people found this helpful

Shakespeare

I can't understand the negative reviews. I have all of the BBC Shakespeare on DVD which they did years ago, and was expecting from the role call that these were those in audio format, they aren't but from what I've listened to so far they are clearly works performed; whereas I think the negative reviews were expecting some kind of straight reading format to which you can only reply they're plays. Absolutely incredible VFM

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1 person found this helpful