The Tempest cover art

The Tempest

Preview

£0.00 for first 30 days

Try for £0.00
Pick 1 audiobook a month from our unmatched collection - including bestsellers and new releases.
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, Originals, celeb exclusives, and podcasts.
Access exclusive sales and deals.
£7.99/month after 30 days. Renews automatically. See here for eligibility.

The Tempest

By: William Shakespeare
Narrated by: Sir Ian McKellen, Emilia Fox, Scott Handy, Ben Owukwe
Try for £0.00

£7.99/month after 30 days. Renews automatically. See here for eligibility.

Buy Now for £7.99

Buy Now for £7.99

Confirm Purchase
Pay using card ending in
By completing your purchase, you agree to Audible's Conditions of Use and authorise Audible to charge your designated card or any other card on file. Please see our Privacy Notice, Cookies Notice and Interest-based Ads Notice.
Cancel

About this listen

Sir Ian McKellen, fresh from his performance as Gandalf in Lord of the Rings, is Prospero, and heads a strong cast in Shakespeare’s last great play. The wronged duke raises a tempest to shipwreck his old opponents on his island so that he can ensure justice is done. With Emilia Fox as Miranda, Scott Handy in the pivotal role of the sprite Ariel, and Ben Owukwe as Caliban, this new production, directed by John Tydeman, balances the magic and the earthiness, with music playing a key role.

PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying reference material will be available in your My Library section along with the audio.

Public Domain (P)2004 Naxos AudioBooks
Classics European Literary History & Criticism Shakespeare
activate_Holiday_promo_in_buybox_DT_T2

Listeners also enjoyed...

King Lear cover art
Paradise Lost cover art
Twelfth Night cover art
Romeo and Juliet cover art
A Midsummer Night's Dream (Dramatised) cover art
Timon of Athens cover art
As You Like It cover art
Twelfth Night cover art
Othello (Dramatized) cover art
Macbeth cover art
Hamlet cover art
The Winter's Tale cover art
Much Ado About Nothing cover art
The Merchant of Venice cover art
Hamlet cover art
The Comedy of Errors cover art

What listeners say about The Tempest

Average customer ratings
Overall
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    114
  • 4 Stars
    31
  • 3 Stars
    15
  • 2 Stars
    2
  • 1 Stars
    2
Performance
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    108
  • 4 Stars
    23
  • 3 Stars
    4
  • 2 Stars
    2
  • 1 Stars
    1
Story
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    92
  • 4 Stars
    29
  • 3 Stars
    12
  • 2 Stars
    3
  • 1 Stars
    2

Reviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.

Sort by:
Filter by:
  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Tempestuous Performance

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

Yes. Ian McKellen gives an excellent performance as Prospero and the recording really brings the play to life.

What was one of the most memorable moments of The Tempest?

Ariel's music and also the way in which characters were brought to life through their own mannerisms and personalities.

What about the narrators’s performance did you like?

Prospero is the central character and gives an unforgettable performance.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

Yes - I easily could have.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

5 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Brilliant play, brilliant production, love Gandalf

It’s a great play and this is a lovely audio version. Ian mckellan is fantastic

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Wonderful

It was as if I was watching the performance.
All voices prefecture matched the character.
A wonderful audio that Shakespeare himself would be proud of.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Excellent performances

The cast is outstanding, although Ian McKellan can be hard to hear if there's any background noise while you're listening. However, I can't give 5* because the singing/music is utterly dreadful. It's so bad that I nearly gave 3* overall!

I wish there was a full cast list available. I'm 95% sure Ferdinand is played by Benedict Cumberbatch, but his name isn't listed.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Loved it!!!

Any additional comments?

The Tempest was an assigned reading for my studies. I was kind of forced to read it but I ended up falling in love with the book. Performances are obviously superb but the story itself has so much meaning, so many interpretations; it is a gold mine. Plus I would recommend watching a film with Helen Mirren as Prospero/Prospera - mind blowing.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

2 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

A beautiful performance of masterpiece

This is a lovely performance of Shakespeare's late masterpiece with outstanding actors. The music can be a little irritating but that's a minor complaint.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars

GRIPPING

This was beautifully performed and thoroughly enjoyed.

The cast was superb and really brought the tale to life.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Splendid

Not a false note struck. McKellen outstanding as one would expect. Altogether a pleasure.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

A masterpiece in narrative aesthetic and performance

Such commanding performances evoke the unique and distinct individuations of Shakespeare’s swan song.

From the power of Prospero, to the drunken hilarity of Stephano and Trunculo; the beastly naivety of Caliban, to the listless lostness of Alonso and Sebastian; the beautiful springing of love in Miranda and Ferdinand to the mature reserve of Gonzalo.

These magical performances provide fertile ground for beginners to grow with Shakespearean language and aesthetic - animating terror and melancholy or emphasising comedic anarchy with intonations and dispositions truly expressive of the beautifully ridiculous follies on display in this magnificent literary achievement

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    3 out of 5 stars

Hard to listen to.

The Tempest is hard to follow at the best of times but there are a few things in this production that really don't help. The first is Ian McKellen. Much of this performance of Prospero is practically whispered by the great actor. It is simply hard to hear his lines a lot of the time, unless you are listening to this in headphones - I was listening in the car and even with the volume right up he was incomprehensible at times. The second problem is the music; the musical settings of the songs are awful and obfuscate the text; they are like a lead weight around the ankles of these lyrics and utterly, utterly tuneless. It is hard to believe they were deemed acceptable.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

4 people found this helpful