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Great Historical Shakespeare Recordings

Author : Various

Performed By : Full Cast Production

Publisher : Select Music & Distribution

Runtime : 2 hours 5 minutes

Categories : Shakespeare

Our Price : $11.99

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In this remarkable anthology of historical recordings are many of the great artists of the past. Early cylinder recordings of Sir Henry Irving preserve the voice and character of the greatest actor of the Victorian period as well as Ellen Terry, his stage partner for many years. In this programme, are documented the changing styles of Shakespeare performance - a fascinating study - with such varied actors as Tree, Gielgud, Thorndike, Olivier, and from the USA, Booth and Barrymore.



The second disc is no less absorbing, an entertaining miscellany of melodrama, tragedy, comedy - including the famous extract of Edith Evans' performance as Lady Bracknell and an unforgettable dialogue between Laurel and Hardy. In addition, are some great actors from France, Germany and even Russia - the formidable singer/actor Feodor Chaliapin.

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Hard Times

Author : Charles Dickens

Performed By : Frederick Davidson

Publisher : Blackstone Audio Inc

Runtime : 11 hours 30 minutes

Categories : Classic Literature

Our Price : $23.95

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"A bitter indictment of industrialization, with its dehumanizing effects on workers and communities in mid-19th-century England."
--Merriam-Webster Encyclopedia of Literature

"The narrator's British accent goes well with Dickens's overly dramatic and lush prose."
--AudioFile

Originally written for Dickens's weekly magazine, Household Words, this short novel follows the fate of Sissy Jupe, a warm-hearted circus child, and the family that adopts her. Deserted by her ailing father, Sissy is taken into the cold household of the Gradgrind family, which operates a school. The "eminently practical" Thomas Gradgrind believes only in facts and figures and has raised his children accordingly, thoroughly suppressing the imaginative sides of their nature. They grow up in ignorance of love and affection, of beauty and culture, or of empathy for others, and the consequences are devastating. Only after numerous crises does Thomas realize that his principles have corrupted their lives.

Dickens's satirical expos of the Industrial Revolution condemns the utilitarianism that exploited the bodies, minds, and souls of the vulnerable labor class.