Hamlet (Arkangel Complete Shakespeare Series)

Rating:
Summary: Arkangel Audio Hamlet the best of the lot
Review: One of the major problems with sound recordings of plays isthat of making stage actions clear when the lines are of no help. WhenCyrano tells Christian to "climb" up to the arms of Roxane, we can assume he does so and a few discreet grunts would help. But when Hamlet stages a dumb show for Claudius and all the court, different directors of recorded versions treat the problem differently.

One or two recordings leave it out and skip directly to the spoken "Mouse Trap," while at least one I have heard has some music playing and the court reacting audibly to whatever is supposed to be happening. Well, I was most impressed in the Arkangel audio edition of when Shakespeare's stage directions concerning the dumb show were read by Hamlet as dialogue. This works just fine and I cannot conceive any future recording doing it any other way. The exchange of rapiers during the duel, however, is not at all clear without having a text open before you. (In the Branagh recording, a line is inserted to tell us the weapons are switched.)

The intelligence with which that dumb show is handled made me very favorably disposed to this set that is cast strongly with Jane Lapotaire (Gertrude), Imogene Stubbs (Ophelia), Bob Peck (Claudius), and Norman Rodway (Polonius). However (oh, dear), when it comes to the Hamlet of Simon Russell Beale, I must back off just a little.

I find his reading much better than the dry recital of Paul Scofield on the Harper Audio version, less flexible than Brannagh's on the Bantam set, and far less poetical than Gielgud on the long out of print RCA Victor version from the 1950s. Whether by personal choice or director's mandate, this is somewhat monochromatic Hamlet: angry and intense. Too many of his lines are read between strong inhalations, as if he is trying to cope with his emotions--which indeed Hamlet is. Towards the end of the play, he seems to loosen up and actually manages a vocal smile as he tells Horatio about how he forged the letter that sends Rosencrantz and Guildenstern to their deaths.Do not missunderstand! What he does he does very well. My point is that he does not explore all the facets of the character as well as some of the rival Hamlets.

Although timed at 3 hours, 25 minutes, the entire play is on two cassettes (as opposed to the four for the Scofield version and for the Branagh) and modestly priced. So despite my minor reservations, this is for me the "Hamlet" of choice.

Rating:
Summary: Arkangel Audio Hamlet the best of the lot
Review: One of the major problems with sound recordings of plays isthat of making stage actions clear when the lines are of no help. WhenCyrano tells Christian to "climb" up to the arms of Roxane, we can assume he does so and a few discreet grunts would help. But when Hamlet stages a dumb show for Claudius and all the court, different directors of recorded versions treat the problem differently.

One or two recordings leave it out and skip directly to the spoken "Mouse Trap," while at least one I have heard has some music playing and the court reacting audibly to whatever is supposed to be happening. Well, I was most impressed in the Arkangel audio edition of <Hamlet> when Shakespeare's stage directions concerning the dumb show were read by Hamlet as dialogue. This works just fine and I cannot conceive any future recording doing it any other way. The exchange of rapiers during the duel, however, is not at all clear without having a text open before you. (In the Branagh recording, a line is inserted to tell us the weapons are switched.)

The intelligence with which that dumb show is handled made me very favorably disposed to this set that is cast strongly with Jane Lapotaire (Gertrude), Imogene Stubbs (Ophelia), Bob Peck (Claudius), and Norman Rodway (Polonius). However (oh, dear), when it comes to the Hamlet of Simon Russell Beale, I must back off just a little.

I find his reading much better than the dry recital of Paul Scofield on the Harper Audio version, less flexible than Brannagh's on the Bantam set, and far less poetical than Gielgud on the long out of print RCA Victor version from the 1950s. Whether by personal choice or director's mandate, this is somewhat monochromatic Hamlet: angry and intense. Too many of his lines are read between strong inhalations, as if he is trying to cope with his emotions--which indeed Hamlet is. Towards the end of the play, he seems to loosen up and actually manages a vocal smile as he tells Horatio about how he forged the letter that sends Rosencrantz and Guildenstern to their deaths.Do not missunderstand! What he does he does very well. My point is that he does not explore all the facets of the character as well as some of the rival Hamlets.

Although timed at 3 hours, 25 minutes, the entire play is on two cassettes (as opposed to the four for the Scofield version and for the Branagh) and modestly priced. So despite my minor reservations, this is for me the "Hamlet" of choice.