The tragedy of King Lear receives an outstanding performance in an all-star cast led by Britain’s senior classical actor, Paul Scofield. He is joined by Alec McCowen as Gloucester, Ken Branagh as The Fool, Harriet Walter as Gonerill, Sara Kestelman as Regan and Emilia Fox as Cordelia.
This is the ninth recording of Shakespeare plays undertaken by Naxos AudioBooks in conjunction with Cambridge University Press, and is directed by John Tydeman.
It has been released to mark the 80th birthday of Paul Scofield in January 2002.
Music: Elizabethan songs and consort music, and specially written music by Nicholas Denney
It's a great pleasure to hear Paul Scofield as King Lear in a recording published to coincide with the actor's 80th birthday. The famous tenderness of his voice is well suited for the intimate medium of recorded drama; Lear's Act Three prayer ("Poor naked wretches") and his later scenes of reunion and reconciliation with Cordelia, for example, are among the most memorable moments of this recording. Kenneth Branagh, who played Edmond in a 1994 BBC recording of the play, here delivers a compassionate performance as the Fool. Alec McCowen also stands out as Gloucester and conveys the range of the old man's credulity, bitterness, and humanity. John Tydeman's direction oversees a moving production. G.H. 2003 Audie Award Finalist (c) AudioFile 2003, Portland, Maine
The (London) Guardian...
"If you buy only one spoken-word recording this year, make it this. [Paul Scofield] is breathtakingly, stingingly brilliant. The range and control of that wonderful voice remain awesome, and like an organ virtuoso he switches registration seamlessly, from blazing diapason rage down to dulciana pathos, exploiting the studio's opportunities for intimacy never offered by the stage”
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