Showing results by narrator "John Gielgud Sir" in All Categories

Alfred Lord Tennyson is one of Britain’s greatest and most popular poets. Even during his lifetime, he was considered a national institution: Queen Victoria appointed him Poet Laureate in 1850, a position he held for 42 years, and in 1884 he became the first writer to be granted a baronetcy. In a long and fruitful career, he penned numerous classic works, and this BBC Radio collection showcases some of the very best. We begin with two of his masterpieces, dramatised by award-winning poet Michael Symmons Roberts.

Pericles, Prince of Tyre, undergoes a tyrant's fury, storm, and shipwreck. He wins love and suffers loss, but what is lost may also be found. With the ancient poet Gower acting as narrator, we follow the adventures of Pericles from young manhood to maturity. This strange and powerful tale of loss and recovery is the first in the group of romance comedies created by Shakespeare at the end of his dramatic career.

Sir John Gielgud stars as Sherlock Holmes with Sir Ralph Richardson as Dr. Watson. John's brother, Val Gielgud, the celebrated mystery author and producer, directs several episodes and co-stars in one of them... as Sherlock's brother! As a finishing touch, Orson Welles plays the evil Moriarty. The shows created by this very special team are possibly the greatest Sherlock Holmes radio programs ever produced. This set features all sixteen episodes in their most complete surviving examples - taken from what currently exists of the syndication masters.

E. F. Benson is probably best known for his wickedly satirical ‘Mapp and Lucia’ series. A prolific writer, his works included novels, biographies and supernatural fiction. His versatility is showcased in these dramatisations and readings, which range from the hilariously comic to the horribly chilling.

King Leontes of Sicilia is seized by sudden and terrible jealousy of his wife Hermione, whom he accuses of adultery. He believes the child Hermione is bearing was fathered by his friend Polixenes, and when the baby girl is born he orders her to be taken to some wild place and left to die. Though Hermione's child escapes death, Leontes' cruelty has terrible consequences. Loss paves the way for reunion, and life and hope are born out of desolation and despair.

A collection of the greatest poetry from the Romantic period, the battlefield and the Victorian era, read by some of the 20th century’s most renowned actors. Themes of war, love, nature, sexuality and much more are played out in these timeless readings of poetry from the 19th and 20th century.

Here are 154 poems performed by by the wonderful Sir John Gielgud in this Shakepseare collection of the Sonnets.

Shakespeare's sonnets deal with such themes as the passage of time, love, beauty, and mortality. All but two of the poems were first published in a 1609 quarto entitled Shake-Speares Sonnets: Never before imprinted.

Like everyone else in the kingdom, two clever swindlers understand the emperor's passion for new clothes. Claiming to be the creators of the richest and most beautiful cloth in the world, they cleverly announce that the magical garments they are weaving for the emperor are invisible to anyone lacking intelligence. Who will have the courage to speak the truth?

Originally released as vinyl records, these expertly abridged and remastered stories are now available to download for the first time. What was it like to love, live, and rebel in Britain during the 19th and 20th centuries? These beloved British novels offer three dramatically different but universally recognisable experiences. Read by three luminaries of the stage and screen: Dame Judi Dench, Sir Ian McKellen, and Sir John Gielgud.

Step back into the streets of Victorian London, as the case of Jarndyce and Jarndyce brings together a strange group of people, including Ada Clare and Richard Carstone who are at the heart of the legal battle, orphan Jo and Inspector Bucket. Oscar-winning actor Sir John Gielgud transports you to the criminal slums of the poor and the drawing rooms of the rich in Dickens’ riveting portrayal of a corrupt society.

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.

A collection of Shelley's greatest poetry read by John Gielgud, Peggy Ashcroft, Hilton Edwards and Margaretta Scott.

Ages of Man is a one-man play performed by John Gielgud of a collection of speeches from Shakespeare's plays. The speeches show the journey of life from birth to death. Gielgud gave the first experimental performance of Ages of Man in a house in St. James Square in London. It premiered at the Freemason's Hall at the 1957 Edinburgh Festival to a sold-out house and an overwhelming success.

A collection of the greatest poetry from the Victorian era, read by some of the 20th century’s most renowned actors. Science, religion and sexuality are played out in these timeless readings of poetry written during the Romantic period.

A collection of the funny, curious verse written during the 19th and 20th centuries, read by some of Britain's most renowned actors. Humorous and whimsical verse are collated together in these timeless readings of poetry from our funniest writers. Performed by Sir John Gielgud; Imogen Stubbs; Tim Pigott-Smith; Peter Orr; Wendy Hillier.

Sir John Gielgud performs his favourite scenes from A Midsummer Night's Dream, Macbeth, Much Ado About Nothing, Cymbeline, The Taming of the Shrew, Julius Caesar, The Tempest, Romeo and Juliet and many more.

A selection of Oscar Wilde's finest work including The Picture of Dorian Gray, The Happy Prince, and The Importance of Being Earnest.

Ralph Richardson and John Gielgud presents more tales of Sherlock Holmes.

The basis for the musical phenomenon Cats, this collection of 14 inviting rhymes - the mixture of the real and the impossible, the familiar and the fantastic - make for a set of poems that no child or adult can possibly resist.

Two classic Sherlock Holmes tales starring Sir John Gielgud and Sir Ralph Richardson.