Poetry & Drama Audio Programs
The Metamorphoses (Unabridged)
An undeniable masterpiece of Western Civilization, The Metamorphoses is a continuous narrative that covers all the Olympian legends, seamlessly moving from one story to another in a splendid panorama of savage beauty, charm, and wit. It marked the first attempt to link all of the Homeric and pre-Homeric myths into a single work and to carry the entire chronology into the Roman pantheon. All of the gods and heroes familiar to us are represented. Such familiar legends as Hercules, Perseus and Medusa, Daedelus and Icarus, Diana and Actaeon, and many others, are breathtakingly recreated.
Ovid was probably the most popular of all the Roman poets during the Renaissance and Baroque periods, and his verse was the inspiration for countless artistic and literary masterpieces of the time. Shakespeare, Bernini, and Rubens were only a few of those who mined his work to extraordinary effect.
Ovid has left mankind a magnificent achievement, and his sparkling poetry is a tour de force of Homeric and Roman myth. As Ovid himself wrote: "As long as Rome is the eternal city, these lines shall echo from the lips of men."
The Iliad is one of the most enduring creations of Western Civilization and was originally written to be recited or chanted to the accompaniment of various instruments. Properly performed, this work today is just as meaningful, just as powerful and just as entertaining as it was in the ninth century B.C.,and it casts its spell upon modern listeners with the same raw intensity as it did upon the people of ancient times.
As you listen to this great work, you feel yourself to be in the presence of a grandeur that suffuses the very air. There is no question that the poet, whether his name was Homer or not, was one of the supreme artists of all time and all civilizations. But thiswonderful piece of poetry is not merely a catalog of events of the Trojan War. Specifically, the poem deals with the bitter dispute between Achilles and Agamemnon, and how the Greeks were almost destroyed by their hubris. Hovering about, the Olympian gods watch the unfolding events with keen interest, sometimes lending help and encouragement on one hand, or spreading fear and hatred on the other.
The Iliad is ultimately about the free will of man and his ability or failure to make rational choices in the face of conflict and chaos. Unlike the gods, menmust face death, which gives their decisions a spiritual meaning which is absent on Olympus. The great legacy of The Iliad is itsshattering revelation of what it means to be human in the face of life's uncertainty and fleeting mortality.
The Divine Comedy (Unabridged)
Dante's Divine Comedy is considered to be not only the most important epic poem in Italian literature, but also one of the greatest poems ever written. It consists of 100 cantos, and (after an introductory canto) they are divided into three sections. Each section is 33 cantos in length, and they describe how Dante and a guide travel through Inferno, Purgatorio, and Paradiso.
Expertly translated here by the famous poet Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, Dante's masterpiece leaps vividly to life in this production.
Philosophically, the poem is based on the theological works of St. Thomas Aquinas. The Divine Comedy is essentially an allegory of the progress of the human soul toward God and the progress of mankind toward peace on earth. Many of the characters involved are drawn from ancient Roman history and from Dante's contemporaries, making the work a realistic picture of Italian life in the early 14th century. As well, it is an intensely developed analysis of human affairs. In structure the poem appears to be a description of the afterlife. But it is in essence, a compassionate, oral evaluation of humanity and a mystical vision of the Absolute toward which mankind struggles. The Divine Comedy endures today because of the universality of its drama and the lyric quality of the poetry, and not as the result of any doctrinal content.
The Odyssey is the greatest adventure story ever written, and one of the great epic masterpieces of Western literature For almost 3,000 years, it has been a storehouse of ancient Greek folklore and myth. It is also our very first novel, if we think of it in terms of romantic plot development, realistic characterizations, frequent change of scene, and heroic dramatic devices. These elements continue to make it far more popular than its kindred piece, The Iliad. No other character in world literature has inspired as many literary works as Odysseus ("Ulysses" in Latin).
The story concerns an incident in the Trojan War and the difficulties of its hero, Odysseus, as he attempts to reach his home. Although possessing courage, stamina and power, it is his powerful mind that ultimately enables him to reach his destination and slay his adversaries. Odysseus is the very model of the worldly, well-traveled, persevering man. With his diplomacy, quick wit, and shrewd resourcefulness, he survives one catastrophe and set-back after another.
The Canterbury Tales (Unabridged)
If you want to understand the daily life and psychology of the Late Middle Ages, Neville Coghill's famous translation of The Canterbury Tales provides one of the very best means of doing so. Within its pages are to be found a broad range of society - high and low, male and female, rich and poor - who express their innermost beliefs and extravagant fantasies in a series of stories they tell as they make their way to Canterbury cathedral. Politics, religion, commerce, philosophy, love, sex, honor, alchemy and just about everything known at the time is discussed with gusto and sincerity by these lively pilgrims.
From the pious tales of nuns to the bald ribaldry of common tradesmen, the full panoply of Medieval man is on display here. And it is done with a genius unmatched in any work of its time.Chaucer, who was active in the second half of the 14th century, lived in a dynamic and epoch-changing period. He was a participant in the Hundred Years War and knew the great King Edward III personally. He was an eyewitness to events of the time and his wry wit was put to brilliant use in service to his poetry, among the best ever written by an Englishman.
The Canterbury Tales (Unabridged)
Lively, absorbing, often outrageously funny, Chaucer's The Canterbury Tales is a work of genius, an undisputed classic that has held a special appeal for each generation of readers. The Tales gathers 29 of literature's most enduring (and endearing) characters in a vivid group portrait that captures the full spectrum of medieval society, from the exalted Knight to the humble Plowman. This unabridged work is based on the new translation.
One of the supreme masterpieces of world literature, the Homeric saga of the shipwrecks, wanderings, and homecoming of the master tactician Odysseus encompasses a virtual inventory of the themes and attitudes that have shaped Western culture. The tale of Odysseus' encounters with such obstacles as Calypso, Circe, Scylla and Charybdis, the Sirens, and the lotus-eaters, and his dramatic return to Ithaca and his patient wife, Penelope, forms a prototype for all subsequent Western epics.
The Divine Comedy (Unabridged)
One of the greatest works in literature, Dante's story-poem is an allegory that represents mankind as it exposes itself, by its merits or demerits, to the rewards or the punishments of justice. A single listen will reveal Dante's visual imagination and uncanny power to make the spiritual visible.
The Iliad & The Odyssey (Unabridged)
Little is known about the Ancient Greek oral poet Homer, the supposed 8th century BC author of the world-read Iliad and his later masterpiece, The Odyssey. These classic epics provided the basis for Greek education and culture throughout the classical age and formed the backbone of humane education through the birth of the Roman Empire and the spread of Christianity. If Homer did in fact exist, this supposedly blind poet was from some region of Greek-controlled Asia-Minor and recited his poems at festivals and political assemblies. In this extraordinary two volume audio set, the glorious saga again unfolds, telling the story of courage and magical adventure in Ancient Greece.
The Iliad, the first of Homer's epic poems, tells of the counsel of Nestor, Achilles's slaying of Hector, and the defeat of the Trojans by the Greeks.
In The Odyssey, in his perilous journey home after the Trojan War, Odysseus must pass through the land of the Cyclopes, encounter Circe the Enchantress, and face the terrible Charybdis and the six headed serpent Scylla.
Both epics are translated here by Samuel Butler.
The Poetry of America (Unabridged)
Poetry can sometimes be elusive, the real meaning layered beneath another. In this volume American poets give voice to their nation, their hopes, and their aspirations. Whitman, Emerson, and Dickinson are joined by Poe, Holmes, Dunbar, and others to pleasure our ears and minds with a rambling stroll through their works. It doesn't define America, but it captures her mood and the flavours of her soul in the early days of the American dream. The selections are:
- 'American Poetry - An Introduction'
- 'To My Dear and Loving Husband' - Anne Bradstreet
- 'The Wild Honey Suckle' - Phillip Freneau
- 'The Star Spangled Banner' - Francis Scott Key
- 'Hymn To the North Star' - William Cullen Bryant
- 'Summer Wind' - William Cullen Bryant
- 'The Snow Storm' - Ralph Waldo Emerson
- 'Goodbye' - Ralph Waldo Emerson
- 'A Psalm of Life' - Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
- 'Extract from Hiawatha' - Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
- 'Woods in Winter' - Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
- 'The Raven' - Edgar Allan Poe
- 'Annabel Lee' - Edgar Allan Poe
- 'A Dream Within a Dream' - Edgar Allan Poe
- 'Prologue' - Oliver Wendell Holmes
- 'Pray to What Earth Does This Sweet Cold Belong' - Henry David Thoreau
- 'From Song of Myself' - Walt Whitman
- 'Warble of Lilac Time' - Walt Whitman
- 'A Carol of Harvest for 1867' - Walt Whitman
- 'A July Afternoon by the Pond' - Walt Whitman
- 'Night on the Prairies' - Walt Whitman
- 'Battle Hymn of the Republic' - Julia Ward Howe
- 'Because I Could Not Stop for Death' - Emily Dickinson
- 'The Only Ghost I Ever Saw' - Emily Dickinson
- 'Lullaby' - Louisa May Alcott
- and more
A Streetcar Named Desire (Dramatized)
Caedmon is proud to release this archival full-cast recording of Tennessee Williams's A Streetcar Named Desire.
Blanche DuBois arrives at her sister Stella's New Orleans apartment seeking refuge from a troubled past but her ethereal spirit irks Stella's husband, the loutish Stanley Kowalski. Crudely, relentlessly, he unmasks the lies and delusions that sustain Blanche, until her frail hold on reality is shockingly severed.
This atmospheric recording of Tennessee Williams's powerful classic stars Rosemary Harris and James Farentino as Blanche and Stanley roles they performed to acclaim in a smash revival at New York's Lincoln Center.
Hamlet, which dates from 1600-1601, is the first in Shakespeare's great series of four tragedies. In writing this extraordinary play Shakespeare effectively re-invented tragedy after an interval of roughly two thousand years - you would have to go back to the Greek dramatists of 5th century Athens to find anything of comparable depth and maturity. This production features the voice of Anton Lesser as Hamlet along with a full cast.
For more informative lectures about this work, don't miss A Study Guide to Hamlet.
Or, listen to a conversation with Professor Harold Bloom.
"Of Man's First Disobedience, and the Fruit
Of that Forbidden Tree, whose mortal taste
Brought Death into the World, and all our woe...."
So begins the greatest epic poem in the English language. In words remarkable for their richness of rhythm and imagery, Milton tells the story of man's creation, fall, and redemption, "to justify the ways of God to men". Here, unabridged, and told with exceptional sensitivity and power by Anton Lesser, is the plight of Adam and Eve, the ambition and vengefulness of Satan and his cohorts.
This new translation by award-winning translator Robert Fagles captures the energy of Homer's original in bold, contemporary idiom. This is an Odyssey to treasure for its sheer lyrical mastery. The great adventure story tells of Odysseus, a veteran of the Trojan War, who - through a landscape peopled with monsters, sea nymphs, evil enchantresses, and vengeful gods - makes his tortuous way home to his faithful wife, Penelope. Shipwrecked numerous times, faced with apparently insurmountable obstacles, offered the temptations of ease, comfort, and even immortality, Odysseus remains steadfast and determined. Themes of courage and perseverance, fidelity and fortitude are woven into the rich tapestry of danger, disaster, and ultimate triumph. Written by the blind poet, Homer, in the 8th century B.C., The Odyssey is the foundation for modern European literature. It is read by Ian McKellen, one of the most highly acclaimed actors in the English-speaking world.
For informative lectures about Homer and The Odyssey, don't miss CliffsNotes on Homer's The Odyssey (Unabridged).
Dramatic, intense, and gripping, The Inferno by Dante is an astonishing masterpiece that no listener can afford to miss. Robert Pinsky, the distinguished American poet, preserves the burning clarity and universal relevance of this 13th century literary masterpiece in a triumphant new translation for our times. Line by line, canto by canto, Pinksy affirms The Inferno as a powerful living classic for today's listeners.
The Marlowe Society performs an unabridged version of Shakespeare's tragedy featuring Romeo and Juliet, whose untimely deaths unite their feuding families.
SmartPass Plus Audio Education Study Guide to King Lear (Unabridged, Dramatised, Commentary Options)
Here is the multi award-winning SmartPass study guide with and without commentary options. This is a full-cast, unabridged performance, with comprehensive commentary and analysis, enabling students to fully understand and appreciate the play. Judge for yourself whether Lear is "a man more sinned against than sinning" in this moral tale that pits wisdom and age against ambition and youth. Experience and examine the power of Shakespeare's most cruel and violent tragedy.
Hamlet: Shakespeare Appreciated (Unabridged, Dramatised, Commentary Options)
Experience Hamlet as a powerful full-cast drama with entertaining and enlightening commentary that explains what's what and who's who as the plot unfolds. To help you get the most out of Shakespeare, the narrator offers historical insights and background information, so you can enjoy the jokes, appreciate the references, and get a real sense of Shakespeare's world.
The unabridged drama is also presented without commentary. If school turned you off Shakespeare, find out what you've been missing all these years with this beautifully crafted audio presentation.
From the creators of SmartPass audio education study guides, voted third in a national poll to find the UK's favourite audibook (2008). Winners of three Spoken Word Awards for Best Drama (2004), Best Original Audio, and Best Publishing Initiative (2005).
The Indwelling: An Experience in Sound and Drama
Global Community forces launch a massive manhunt for the assassin of their fallen leader. Meanwhile, members of the Tribulation Force are scattered around the globe, and only a small number remain in the safe house, which may be compromised. The group's spiritual leader, Tsion Ben-Judah, keeps watch to see if prophecy will be fulfilled through Antichrist's resurrection, indwelt by Satan.
The Indwelling: An Experience in Sound and Drama delivers dazzling performances by the series cast regulars, fresh and exhilarating audio effects, and a thrilling soundtrack! A must-have addition to the Left Behind: An Experience in Sound and Drama series!
Browse the entire Left Behind series.
The Remnant: An Experience in Sound and Drama
The earth, now a wasted shell of its former beauty, staggers under the weight of worsening judgments from heaven, while Carpathia turns up the heat on Christ followers and anyone else who does not swear total allegiance to him. All pretense is gone, even on the part of the Antichrist, as the planet hurtles toward Armageddon and the ultimate showdown between good and evil.
The Remnant: An Experience in Sound and Drama delivers dazzling performances by the series cast regulars, fresh and exhilarating audio effects, and a thrilling soundtrack! A must-have addition to the Left Behind: An Experience in Sound and Drama series!
Browse the entire Left Behind series.
The Winter's Tale (Unabridged)
A king's mad jealousy tears his family apart in this rich, tragicomic play, one of Shakespeare's last. When King Leontes suspects his wife, Hermione, has been unfaithful, he sends her to prison, where she gives birth to a daughter. Assuming the baby is not his, Leontes orders that she be left to die on a desert shore. He spends the next 16 years grieving over his error, until the fateful day his long-lost daughter Perdita returns. Oscar winner Sir John Gielgud leads a full cast in this masterwork of romantic theater.
An enigmatic young woman. A manipulative sister. Their brilliant father. An unexpected suitor. One life-altering question. The search for the truth behind a mysterious mathematical proof is the perplexing problem in David Auburn's dynamic play. Winner of the 2001 Tony award for Best Play and the 200l Pulitzer Prize for drama.
The body of Polynices, Antigone's brother, has been ordered to remain unburied by Creon, the new king of Thebes. Antigone defies the law, sealing her fate. Originally produced in Paris during the Nazi occupation, Anouilh's Antigone was seen by the French as theatre resistance and by Germans as an affirmation of authority.
Starring (in alphabetical order):
Jordan Bridges as Haemon/2nd Guard
Dominic Fumusa as Guard
Francis Guinan as Creon
John Hansen as 3rd Guard/Messenger
Alan Mandell as Chorus
Elizabeth Marvel as Antigone
Alley Mills as Nanny
Mandy Sigfried as Ismene
In Sophocles' tragedy, Oedipus discovers that he has been caught in his terrible destiny, unknowingly murdering his father and marrying his mother.
This perfomance features a new translation from the original Greek by director Nicholas Rudall.
Starring (in alphabetical order):
Spencer Garrett as Shepard, Chorus
Francis Guinan as Messenger, Chorus
Gregory Itzin as Creon
Charles Kimbrough as Priest of Zeus, Chorus
Harry J. Lennis as Oedipus
Rod McLachlan as Second Messenger, Chorus
Carolyn Seymour as Jocasta
W. Morgan Sheppard as Teiresias, Chorus
In the rigid theocracy of Salem, Massachusetts, rumors that women are practicing witchcraft galvanize the town. In the ruthlessness of the prosecutors and the eagerness of neighbor to testify against neighbor, The Crucible mirrors the anti-Communist hysteria in the 1950s.
The Grapes of Wrath (Dramatized)
Based on the epic novel by Nobel Laureate John Steinbeck. Set during the Great Depression, The Grapes of Wrath tells the powerful story of the Joad family's trek from the dust bowl of Oklahoma to the promise of a new life in California. But what they find threatens to rip apart their lives, and sever the ties that bind them together. Starring Shirley Knight as Ma Joad, Frank Galati's heart-wrenching adaptation of the Pulitzer Prize-winning novel finds its timeless heart in the generous spirit of the common man.
A full-cast production featuring: Shirley Knight, Jeffrey Donovan, Emily Bergl, Mike Buie, Daniel Chacon, Maurice Chasse, Shannon Cochran, Trista Delamere, Francis Guinan, Charlie Matthes, Rod McLachlan, Bob Pescovitz,Joel Rafael, Stephen Ramsey, Nick Sadler, Andy Taylor, Todd Waring, Fredd Wayne, Michael Weston, and Kate Williamson, with live music performed by the Joel Rafael Band.
Glorious Appearing: An Experience in Sound and Drama
The Experience in Sound and Drama series of audio products from Left Behind has captured the minds and ears of fiction fans worldwide. These 12 new episodes are based on the best-selling novel, Glorious Appearing.
The Complete Barchester Chronicles (Dramatisation)
Here is a new audio edition of the acclaimed BBC Radio 4 dramatisations of Anthony Trollope's gently satirical tales of provincial life, available together in one download.
Nearly 20 hours of ironic, witty, and wonderfully written drama is contained in this audiobook. The cast includes Anna Massey, Alex Jennings, David Haig, Rosemary Leach, Kenneth Cranham, Emma Fielding, and Brenda Blethyn.
BBC Radio Crimes: A Charles Paris Mystery: The Dead Side of the Mic
Actor and reluctant sleuth Charles Paris is facing chaos on the domestic front. He's lodging with his ex-wife Frances, and now their pregnant daughter has moved in as well. It's all a bit much....
So he is over the moon when he lands a job on the BBC Radio Rep - but the ink is barely dry on his contract when a murder takes place in Broadcasting House. A young female studio manager is found dead in an editing suite, and Charles steps in to investigate.
With a distinguished cast including Bill Nighy as Charles Paris, Suzanne Burden as Frances, and featuring Charlotte Green as herself, this four-part drama, adapted by Jeremy Front, is sheer listening pleasure.
BBC Radio Crimes: The Inspector Alleyn Mysteries: A Man Lay Dead & A Surfeit of Lampreys
A Man Lay Dead
A game of 'murders' at Sir Hubert Handesley's country house party becomes far too realistic for anyone's liking. First a guest arrives with a dangerously lethal dagger and then, when the gong sounds to announce the start of the game, the victim plays dead in a very convincing manner. Chief Detective Inspector Alleyn believes the unusual dagger is a vital clue to the real-life murder, and soon he's on the trail of a Russian secret society.
A Surfeit of Lampreys
Like all good aristocrats, the Lampreys are charming but penniless - so a visit from the wealthy head of their family is greatly anticipated. However, their Uncle Gabriel isn't persuaded to part with his money and a row ensues. When a body is found in the lift leading to the Lampreys' flat, Chief Detective Inspector Alleyn finds a family immersed in hidden secrets and intrigue.
Jeremy Clyde stars as Chief Inspector Alleyn in these BBC Radio dramatisations of two of Ngaio Marsh's much-loved mysteries.