Classical Editor: Rob Barnett


Music Webmaster
Len Mullenger: Len@musicweb.uk.net


Reviews from other months
SPOKEN WORD CD

MARY SHELLEY: Frankenstein   Read by: Daniel Philpott, Jonathan Oliver and Chris Larkin . Naxos Audiobooks NA200312 156m DDD.

 


Crotchet



Mary Shelley's magnificent and timeless classic receives the spoken word treatment that will surely be extremely difficult to surpass. Philpott and Oliver are truly outstanding in their various tragic declamations whilst Larkin's Walton provides the perfect link to both in their tragedy of life and love. One must wonder how Shelley managed to conjure such a futuristic plot to create one of the greatest stories of all time.

As Duncan Steen tells us in his excellent notes, the author had dreams (or nightmares) concerned with 'pale students of unhallowed arts' turning in horror from their 'odious handiwork', a sinister recreation of the grotesque foraging of Frankenstien in his search for the loathsome material that was to build his monster, a creation of such despicable ugliness that all the world would turn against. It is this question of creator versus creation that is discussed in detail in this novel.

Nicolas Soames chooses the icy romantic music of Tchaikovsky's 'Manfred' to waft its way through the narrative, and one has to feel for this monster who in his search for love and companionship is ruthlessly discarded by everyone, even his own creator. Jonathan Oliver's narration is simply superb, both for its unhallowed and grotesque savagery and for its deep emotional misery, two contrasting but at the same time contemporary effects. His method of revenge is expectedly savage; indeed he destroys all Frankenstien's dearest loves by murdering his family and leaves the creator in a hellish world, which finally ends, on a ship in the loneliness of a vast ocean.

As the monster disappears for ever, one is left to ponder on the futility of man when compared to his creator, and that anyone who tampers with such holy things is left to bear the consequences at their peril. Naxos' production is a classic of the spoken word catalogue and should remain as a fine example of the appeal of this medium to all literary followers.

 Reviewer

Gerald Fenech

Performance:

Effects:

 Reviewer

Gerald Fenech

Performance:

Effects:

Return to Index