This recording is simply superb. Derek Jacobi as the King of Navarre and Jeremy Brett as Berowne have exquisite voices, and the lively and sweet interactions of all the cast make this special. Berowne gives several speeches on love and life and learning which are soaringly beautiful.
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Love's Labour's Lost by William Shakespeare is in all probability composed of many inside jokes and the cast of characters may have had attributes or characteristics and maybe even been burlesqued in the play as caricatures of the very people who were viewing it. People like the Earl of Southampton and John Florio, among others. The Spaniard's name "Armado" is likely a jest on the recently sunk Spanish "Armada" and Asimov...
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The Folger Library editions are absolutely the best for scholarship, due to their extensive notation. My preference for Love's Labor's Lost is for the Pelican Books version, with sufficient but abreviated notation. The lighter notation gives wings to Shakespeare's most ponderous romantic comedy. This is the story of three gentlemen who pledge themselves to three years of intellectual rigor in the court of the King of...
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One of Shakespeare's earlier comedies, "Love's Labour's Lost" does not even hold a candle to some of the Bard's greatest comedic works (A Midsummer Night's Dream, The Tempest, The Winter's Tale). Yet, for all its lack of blazing greatness, the play is indeed a joyful diversion.The plot is that of a philosopher's paradise being invaded by the most nefarious of things...love. Shakespeare means many things when he speaks of love:...
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Be forewarned. Even if you have read a lot of Shakespeare's plays, this one is difficult and demands much effort to follow. But, if you can push yourself into reading this, it is well worth the time. Shakespeare himself performed the role of Berowne. While this is a comedy, the humour relies on irony as opposed to funny events. Also, unlike his other comedies, this one does not end in utter happieness. The interaction...
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