Richard Burton's Hamlet cover art

Richard Burton's Hamlet

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Richard Burton's Hamlet

By: William Shakespeare
Narrated by: Richard Burton, a full cast
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About this listen

 This production of Hamlet, directed by Sir John Gielgud and starring Richard Burton, was recorded in the Lunt-Fontanne Theatre in New York City during a spectacular season for Broadway. It was the year of Carol Channing's Hello Dolly, Barbra Streisand's Funny Girl, and Neil Simon's Barefoot in the Park. Noel Coward, Arthur Miller and Alec Guinness were also on the Great White Way that year. But the show that created the most excitement was Richard Burton's Hamlet. Given the importance of the show, a film was made of a single performance. At Burton's insistence, after screening the film for just two days, all copies were destroyed except for one that went to the British Film Institute and one that went to Burton's home. 25 years after the stage production, Burton's widow allowed this audio recording to be made from her copy. This performance differs from other recordings of Hamlet, not only because of Burton and Gielgud, but because it is a live recording of an actual performance on Broadway, not in a recording studio.

"You get the immediacy of a live production of Hamlet on Broadway in the nervousness of the actors, knowing that they can't go back on it, that this is for all time, unlike films, where you can if you make a mistake go back and do it again. The particular intensity and nerves of this is probably the same kind of thing that excites a real audience in a real theatre." - Richard Burton(P)1995 Onward Production Ltd. and Paul Brownstein Productions, Inc. Ancient, Classical & Medieval Literature Classics Drama Drama & Plays Shakespeare Funny

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Critic reviews

"Time and again he takes a speech or an action we had thought fixed forever in unshakeable conception and daringly hurls it into new life. He is humorous when we expect solemnity and withdrawn when we anticipate aggression...." ( Newsweek)
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We're familiar with Shakespeare, and we know just how good Hamlet is. But this recording is all about the golden larynx of Richard Burton. As it was a recording of a live theatre performance, the sound quality is less than perfect, but who cares? It's a privilege to be able to listen to him. I agree with some that his Hamlet may be a little too manic in places, but maybe not an unreasonable interpretation.



And as a bonus, the honeyed tones of Gielgud feature as the ghost.

The finest noise ever created by vocal chords?

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Richard Burton is one of the Greatest English actors that ever lived, he remains my favourite actor, people always focus on his skin and that is just pathetic way of describing this most greatest actor, writer and poet.
No one will come close to Richard Burton in my eyes he had this most powerful voice. Listen to this Hamlet.

Astounding

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Obviously recorded in a theatre and as such has far too much echo on it. Perhaps that’s to add to the atmosphere but it’s too much and the actors gabble heavily - I realise these were some of the best actors of the time but not 40 years later in modern technology. Needs to be digitally enhanced

Wasted credit

Awful - not listenable for audible, too much echo

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