Showing results by narrator "Anton Lesser" in All Categories

Pygmalion remains one of the most popular stories, but mainly in the medium of the musical; the evergreen My Fair Lady. But much of the charm and wit comes from the words and timing in Shaw's original play. Here are the characters of Professor Higgins, his friend Colonel Pickering, and their charge, Eliza Doolittle.

In this, perhaps Dickens' most profound and personal novel, we are invited to share in the sentimental education of Pip, the poor boy from the village forge who risks losing himself in snobbery and selfishness when he mysteriously inherits a fortune. The story moves from the bleak Kentish marshes of Pip's childhood to a thrilling climax that mingles tragedy and triumph.

In Paradise Regained, Satan again is on the prowl, having successfully tempted Adam and Eve, and forced their departure from the Garden of Eden. Here he sets out to tempt again, this time Jesus himself, as he comes to the end of his 40 days in the desert. The magisterial poetry of Milton enriches the encounter and, while not matching the greatness achieved in Paradise Lost, provides drama and depth.

Full-cast dramatisations of six masterpieces from the founding fathers of dystopian fiction. Dark and disturbing, provocative and prescient, dystopian literature has long captured our imagination with its nightmarish visions of forbidding future worlds. Included here are six classic novels of time-travel, totalitarianism and terror, written by some of the masters of speculative fiction and adapted for radio with all-star casts.

The Boy lives in a cottage with his mother and father, and the Dragon lives in a cave on the Downs. The Boy is his only friend. The Dragon is not at all the sort of Dragon one might expect to meet, however: he's polite and friendly.

Johann Wolfgang 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.

Eleven BBC Radio 4 full-cast dramas telling the stories of Mary Queen of Scots and the Stuart royals. Under the Stuarts, Britain entered the modern world. But with great change came turmoil, and for 111 years, the Stuart monarchs faced dynastic struggles, religious conflict, the rise of parliamentary democracy - and civil war. These dramas chart that turbulent epoch through its royal family, from Mary, Queen of Scots to the ‘last Stuart’, Bonnie Prince Charlie’s daughter Charlotte.

Henry VIII has proclaimed himself Supreme Head of the Church, and the country is waking up to savage new laws. Under the order of Thomas Cromwell, a team of commissioners is sent to investigate the monasteries. At the monastery of Scarnsea, events have spiralled out of control. Cromwell's commissioner, Robin Singleton, has been found dead. And Matthew Shardlake, lawyer and long-time supporter of reform, has been sent by Cromwell into an atmosphere of treachery and death to investigate.

Published just months before his death in 1768, A Sentimental Journey is Sterne's lightly fictionalised account of his own European travels; and being Sterne, it is more about digressions, misunderstandings and risqué jokes than the places he visits. Narrated by the (apparently) innocent Parson Yorick, who appeared in Sterne's other masterpiece, Tristram Shandy, it is full of anecdote and incident, and is far more about the people than the landscapes on the road from Calais.

The Trojan War is over, and Odysseus, the cunning king of Ithaca, sets out for home, his wife Penelope, and his son Telemachus. It proves a long, 10-year journey, fraught with dangers, from Polyphemus, the one-eyed Cyclops, and the seductive Sirens, to the love of Calypso on her all-too-comfortable isle.

When an aristocratic old lady is brutally murdered in her country home the night before 9/11, it takes all the resources of the FBI and Interpol to work out the connection between her and the possible motive for her death: a priceless Van Gogh painting. Meanwhile, Anna Petrescu is missing and presumed dead after 9/11. She uses her new status to escape from America and avenge the old lady's death.

The Lampreys revel in their eccentricity and entertain their guests with complicated charades. But when one game goes wrong and rich Uncle Gabriel is found murdered in a most grizzly manner, the only person capable of solving the crime is Chief Detective Inspector Roderick Alleyn.

How can the Tortoise run faster than the Hare? What happens when the dog growls at its image? Or when the Country Mouse goes to supper with the Town Mouse? These wonderful stories have delighted adults and children for centuries, with their witty observations on animals and humans too. The stories are told with the enduring magic of a master story-teller, and set against the bright sounds of Vivaldi's Four Seasons and sound effects.

This is a story from the The Happy Prince and Other Stories collection.

Eleven compelling BBC Radio 4 full-cast dramas telling the stories of the Russian tsars. Broadcast to mark the centenary of the Russian Revolution, this extraordinary drama cycle by Mike Walker comprises 11 ambitious plays spanning over 400 years, exploring the lives of Russia’s key rulers from Ivan the Terrible to Vladimir Putin.

Shakespeare's Sonnets, one of the most remarkable collections of poetry, was first published in 1609, 400 years ago by Mr Thomas Thorpe. Naxos AudioBooks marks the occasion with a selection of 80 of the finest, read by leading actors. The selection includes famous ones such as 'Shall I compare thee to a summer's day' as well as lesser well-known sonnets though of equally fine stature.

It was planned as an act of charity: a new piano for the parish hall, an amusing play to finance the gift. The question now under bitter discussion is, who shall play the overture? Though Eleanor Prentice wins, on the night of the performance she cannot play. Miss Campanula steps triumphantly into the breach - a chord was is, a shot rings out and Miss Campanula is dead, shot between the eyes. A case of sinister infatuation for the brilliant Chief Detective-Inspector Alleyn.

This collection of John Milton's finest poetry offers an ideal overview of his work. It is read by several of Britain's foremost classical actors, including Anton Lesser, Samantha Bond and Derek Jacobi. Milton's uncompromising views set him firmly on the side of Cromwell, putting his life in danger when the Stuart monarchy was restored.

Paradise Lost is the greatest epic poem in the English language. In words remarkable for their richness of rhythm and imagery, Milton tells the story of Man's creation, fall, and redemption to "justify the ways of God to men."

This 14th-century Italian poet was a model for many who followed him. His passionate sonnets to Laura became the epitome for love poetry. Over some 40 years he wrote 366 sonnets to Laura, whom he probably never even spoke to, and they remain immediate and affecting even now. Called "Rime Sparse (Scattered Rhymes)", they influenced Chaucer and many others.