Goethe: BBC Drama Collection
from archive.org
A collection of seminal dramatised pieces by the great German polymath, Johann Wolfgang Goethe.
Goethe was a colossus of German literature and a true Renaissance man. A novelist, dramatist, poet, humanist, scientist and philosopher, he wrote the first international bestseller, The Sorrows of Young Werther, and his epic masterpiece Faust is one of the most famous and celebrated dramas of all time.
This anthology opens with a dramatisation of Faust, which tells of a magus with an insatiable thirst for knowledge who makes a pact with the Devil. Featuring atmospheric music performed by the King's College Choir and the BBC Singers.
It is followed by The Sorrows of Young Werther, Goethe's tale of a passionate young artist at odds with society, who falls hopelessly in love with his friend's fianc?e.
Originally published in 1795 under the title 'The Green Snake and the Beautiful Lily', A Fairy Tale is a magical, mysterious and strikingly modern story whose images foreshadow the poetry of surrealism.
To conclude, a trio of historical tragedies: Egmont, set in 16th century Brussels and with a score specially composed by Ludwig van Beethoven; Iphigenia in Tauris, a reworking of the ancient Greek play by Euripides; and Torquato Tasso, a verse drama about the eponymous 16th century Italian poet and courtier and his descent into madness.
Faust
The medieval folk legend of Simon Magus, who makes a pact with the devil, forms the basis of Goethe's famous work. Disenchanted with the limitations of his academic knowledge, Dr Faust decides to study the arts of magic and to master the supernatural. Mephistopheles appears and offers Faust renewed youth and the power to experience the reality and the mystery of life and all the human suffering it will involve. Faust signs an agreement with the devil, but his soul will only be forfeited if ever his restless spirit is satisfied and content.
Simon Callow as Faust
Ronald Pickup as Mephistopheles
Angharad Rees as Gretchen
Written by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
Translated by Louis MacNeice with E.L. Stail
Adapted for radio by Anthony Vivis.
First broadcast on BBC Radio 3 in May 1982
The Sorrows of Young Werther
Goethe's story of a young artist at odds with society and his turbulent love affair.
Werther.....Joel MacCormack
Lotte.....Daisy Edgar-Jones
Albert.....Jack Farthing
Wilhelm.....Finn den Hertog
Hans.....Stefan Adegbola
Johanna.....Cecilia Appiah
Peter.....Joseph Ayre
Suzette.....Emma Handy
The Ambassador.....Roger Ringrose
Frau Muller.....Jane Whittenshaw
Louis.....Ian Dunnett Jnr
Servant Girl.....Charlotte East
Written by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
Translated by Michael Hamburger
Adapted for radio by Hattie Naylor
Directed by Emma Harding
First broadcast on BBC Radio 3 in December 2020
A Fairy Tale
One of Goethe's most mysterious, and to our eyes strikingly modern, works is this fairy tale. In its imagery it foreshadows the poetry of surrealism.
Teller of the Tale .... David Davis
Prince .... Gabriel Woolf
Beautiful Lily .... Ronlind Shanks
Peasant .... David March
Peasant's wife .... Freda Dowie
Fenryman .... James Thomason
Will-o'-the-Wisp .... Peter Craze
Will-o'-the-Wisp .... David Graham
Serpenit .... Mary Morris
First King .... Patrick Barr
Second King .... Douglas Blackwell
Third King .... William Eedle
Fourth King .... Godfrey Kenton
Written by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
Translated by Susanne Flatauer
Adapted for radio by Martin Esslin
Music by Hans Heimler
Directed by Martin Esslin
First broadcast on BBC Radio 3 in June 1977
Egmont
The tragedy written in 1788 by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe with overture and incidental music by Ludwig van Beethoven. The action of the play takes place in Brussels and begins in the year 1568
Egmont .... Paul Daneman
Count Egmont, Prince of Gavre .... Paul Daneman
Richard, his secretary .... John Rye
William, Prince of Orange .... Gary Watson
Clara, Egmont's mistress .... Deborah Stanford
Clara's mother .... Kathleen Helme
Brackenburg, a citizen's son .... Gary Bond
Soest, a grocer .... Nigel Lambert
Jetter, a tailor .... Geoffrey Collins
Buyck, a soldier under Egmont .... Peter Pratt
Jakob, a carpenter .... Sean Barrett
Groot, a soapboiler .... Brian Haines
Old Ruysum .... Malcolm Hayes
Vansen, a clerk .... Michael Deacon
A citizen .... Hilda Kriseman
Margaret of Parma, daughter of Charles V and Regent of the Netherlands .... Mary Morris
Machiavelli, her secretary .... John Justin
The Duke of Alba .... Stephen Murray
Ferdinand, his son .... David Buck
Don da Silva, in the Duke of Alba's service .... John Pullen
Captain Gomez, in the Duke of Alba's service .... Leonard Fenton
Written by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
Translated by Michael Hamburger
Adapted for radio by John Powell
Music by Ludwig van Beethoven
Conductor .... James Loughran
Produced by John Powell
Produced by Paul Daneman
First broadcast on BBC Radio 3 in May 1970
Iphigenia in Tauris
Hoping to appease the Furies, Orestes comes secretly to Tauris, in South Crimea, to fulfil Apollo's command 'to bring back the Sister'. He is certain this is an order to steal the statue of Diana. But his own supposedly dead sister Iphigenia is the priestess of Diana's temple. Orestes and Pylades are arrested, and the unsuspecting Iphigenia is ordered by the king to put them to death on Diana's altar, according to a revived Taurian custom.
Iphigenia .... Maureen O'Brien
Orestes .... Anton Lesser
King Thoas .... Bernard Brown
Pylades .... Simon Treves
Areas .... John Church
Written by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
Translated by David Luke
Music by Christos Pittas
Music performed by the London Chamber Orchestra conducted by the composer
Directed by John Theocharis
First broadcast on BBC Radio 3 in April 1986
Torquato Tasso
"Here other men must suffer grief in silence,
A god gave me the power to speak my pain."
The poet Tasso lives in the palace of the enlightened Duke Alfonso in 16th-century Ferrara. He has finished his masterpiece, 'Jerusalem Liberated' and is symbolically crowned by his admiring patrons. Goethe presents a highly-cultured Court, dedicated to the pursuit or artistic excellence. The play is centrally concerned with the discrepancy between the artist and the rest of the world.
with Michael Pennington as Tasso
David Buck as Prince Alfonso
David Suchet as Antonio
Eileen Atkins as the Princess
Rosalind Shanks as Leonora
Written by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
Translated by Alan and Sandy Brownjohn
Music by Michael Steer.
Directed by John Theocharis
First broadcast on BBC Radio 3 in April 1982
- Faust (part 1) (133Mb)
- Faust (part 2) (185.6Mb)
- The Sorrows of Young Werther (81.2Mb)
- A Fairy Tale (80.7Mb)
- Egmont (137.4Mb)
- Iphigenia in Tauris (99.4Mb)
- Torquato Tasso (127.9Mb)
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