Sunday Afternoon at the Opera - Shakespeare: Julius Caesar

Sunday Afternoon at the Opera host, Keith Brown, writes:

My broad definition of lyric theater embraces spoken-word drama, especially the plays of William Shakespeare. It has been fully a decade since I have aired the recordings of the Bard's works in the BBC Radio Collection. The British Broadcasting Corporation has been presenting full-length plays of Shakespeare since 1923.

Julius Caesar (1595), as directed by Eoin O'Callaghan, stars Gerard Murphy in the title role. The play is interpreted as if it took place in the Italy of 1925, the era of the dictator Benito Mussolini. The director explains his perspective on the play in a brief introductory speech. BBC Radio Three broadcast this audio production of Julius Caesar on September 26, 1999. It was released on two compact discs by BBC Worldwide, Ltd. that same year. Those discs I last played on this same date exactly eleven years ago.

Stay tuned for famous scenes from Hamlet, starring Richard Burton, in Sir John Gielgud's 1964 Broadway production. The original cast recording was issued by Columbia masterworks on a single mono LP. After listening to these scenes I think you'll agree with me that Richard Burton was one of the greatest Hamlets ever to have trod the Thespic boards.