Julyan's conscience has never been clear over the official version of Rebecca's death. Was Rebecca the manipulative, promiscuous femme fatale her husband claimed, or the gothic heroine of tragic proportions that others had suggested? The official story, the 'truth', has only ever had Maxim's version of events to consider. But all that is about to change...

Sally Beauman has taken Daphne du Maurier's celebrated twentieth-century classic Rebecca, and crafted a compelling companion for the twenty-first. Haunting, evocative, mesmerising, Rebecca's Tale is for anyone who has ever dreamt of returning to Manderley.


Review by Carol from the Yahoo! Groups List: James Frain's voices in "Rebecca's Tale" evoke all the darkness and deception necessary for that sorrowful tale. First Impressions: I'm part-way through the first side of this 4-cassette, about 6-hour audio story, so far read* only by James Frain.....no Miriam Margolyes yet, although he states her name before his own at the beginning. At first James' voice sounded so very different to me that I honestly wondered if he might not have had a cold while recording, but it soon became clear that he was enacting the role of the narrator of the story, who at this point in his narration, is a 72-year old British gentleman in frail physical condition, so hopefully, James himself was enjoying good health, and continues to do so!

This promises to be a rich experience, ripe with atmosphere and intrigue, many locations and characters, lots of emotions. Even this early on, the story seems to re-establish the gloomish mood and burnished aura that I remember from the book "Rebecca" by Daphne du Maurier. I'm absolutely loving the subtle irony, sarcasm, humor, horror, tenderness, wonder, etc etc etc, so beautifully articulated, as always, in James Frain's dramatization of the story, and I'm very curious to hear how the involvement of the other actor/reader comes into play, since up 'til now, as far as I know, James has gone solo on these audio books......guess there's a lot more driving in my foreseeable future! Best--
--Carol

*As I've mentioned here before (No! Really, Carol?!?), the term "read by" is so woefully, utterly inadequate to describe what James Frain actually accomplishes in these audio books with his wonderful voice and his genius for accents and his immense talent that it's truly ludicrous, but I imagine that "brought to shimmering, pulsating, absolutely authentic life by" might be a tad difficult to fit on those little cassettes...... ;o)

I've been listening to James Frain create his glorious vocal magic (this is a somewhat more accurate description of what he actually accomplishes than the lackluster term "read" ;o) ) with "Rebecca's Tale" and since this can only happen during my drive times, it's been a lovely, drawn-out experience taking place over several days now. Anyway, several sides heard thus far, and still it's been all James, all the time, no sign of Miriam Margolyes at all. Not that I'm complaining--surely not!--I have nothing whatsoever against Miriam Margolyes, who I'm certain is a delightful and very talented actor, but I'd also have no problem whatsoever if this was strictly James' deal, as his other wonderful audio books have been. I could listen to his voice for hours, and come to think of it, I have.......! It's just that I've been wondering when Ms. Margolyes was going to appear, and in what capacity. Finally today, about halfway through side 4, she took over, doing a great job reading a sort of story-within-the-story. James Frain still pops in to say, "End of Side 4" and, "Side 5," and since the character he was last portraying before Miriam appeared has not finished his part of the tale, I feel fairly confident that James will return. I hope that it's soon. James' audio books are the first I've experienced, so until Miriam came along today, his was the only voice I'd ever heard perform them, and somehow, that just seems the way it was meant to be....... :oD Still enjoying the story though.

I did some checking at the IMDb website on Miriam Margolyes, who does just a stellar job in her reading for the audio book "Rebecca's Tale" with James Frain. She has such a juicy, expressive voice and an extremely versatile delivery, cleverly, colorfully vocalizing many different characters in her part of the story, including a precocious little girl, a pompous older gentleman, a flirtatious young woman......and to learn that she herself is 61 years old! I also had forgotten that she played Gustave's (James Frain's character) mother Rose in the film "Sunshine."

Tonight I had a little fight with a long traffic jam, and the traffic jam won! Well over an hour's worth of delay, bumper to bumper, moving along the highway at most at about 3 miles per hour. Oy. It wasn't a total loss, however--I got to listen to "Rebecca's Tale"through to the end. Although it had started out a very atmospheric, captivating account, by its finish it turned out to be at best an okay story, made less engrossing for me, unfortunately, by the fact that, except to announce the end of each side and the beginning of the next, after the switch to Miriam Margolyes midway through the fourth side, James Frain never returned! I truly expected him to be back to give voice to the characters he had introduced and dramatized so skillfully, appealingly earlier in the tale as they returned later on in the telling, but this was not to be. Please believe me--I in no way whatsoever mean to disparage Miriam Margolyes--she's brilliant, and does a marvelous job with the many accents and timbres and circumstances etc, of the characters she plays. She just isn't James Frain. As with absolutely everything he does, he also raises the bar for excellence (and audience delight---at least *this* audience member.....!) in the performance of audio books.

Best--
--Carol

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Man and Wife by Tony Parsons  2002
Synopsis: (From the audio book cover) Man and Wife is a sequel to the international bestseller Man and Boy. It is a novel about love and marriage -- about why we fall in love and why we marry; about why we stay and why we go.

Harry Silver is a man coming to terms with a divorce and a new marriage. He has to juggle with time and relationships, with his wife and his ex-wife, his son and his stepdaughter, his own work and his wife's fast growing career. Meanwhile, his mother, who stood so steadfastly by his father until he died, is not getting any younger or stronger herself. In fact, everything in Harry's life seems so complicated. And when he meets a woman in a million, it gets even more so....

Man and Wife stands on it's own as a brilliant novel about families in the new century, written with all the humour, enthusiasm and superb storytelling that have made Tony Parsons a favourite author in over thirty countries.


Review by Carol from the Yahoo! Groups List: While just reading the book might have made for a satisfactory-enough experience, when this contemporary story about a flawed but very worthy man is presented in James' remarkable voice, with his subtle, delicious delivery, it is rendered so sympathetic, outrageous, funny, arousing, poignant, delightful, that I come to the end of disc 3 and want to immediately pop disc 1 back into the machine to start it right up all over again.

First Impressions Oh dear and oy. [As I first listen to the book], Harry Silver is turning out to be somewhat of a sh*t. Or maybe he's just being a guy? Romantic, suspicious, gentle, deceptive. Warm and giving. Cold and self-righteous. High standards and low expectations, or is that the other way around? Both, I think, depending on the point of view at the given moment....... Of course, as ever, James Frain's nuanced and multi-layered interpretation of his character keeps Harry infinitely human, even sympathetic, even at his least admirable. And in fairness, Harry does have so very much to deal with--family matters, health matters, job matters, matters of the pocketbook, matters of the heart, matters of the little head ........ This is a considerably more explicit characterization than the others James Frain has voiced in previous audio books. Harry places or finds himself in some stimulating situations. Or is it only that way because James Frain, with his subtle delivery and that voice like deep honeyed "buttah," is the one doing the telling? I'm sure that's it. As we know, I'm definitely not unbiased where James Frain is concerned, but I firmly believe that just reading this book, or hearing it in anyone else's voice, couldn't possibly ever be as arrousing......[I find myself eager] to hear how it all turns out.

I hope that everybody gets to hear James Frain's version of "M&W"--it's just so very compelling. I actually find myself ranting out loud at Harry when he's being a real schmuck regarding some minor little details like his FRICKIN' MARRIAGE VOWS and such, and most of the Lucy/Brucie Doll stuff is pretty hilarious, and then, some of Harry's exchanges with his son and with his mum are so very touching that I feel my eyes fill up-- not a good thing when driving. [One remarkable charactarization] is James' incredible voicing of Kazumi, a young Japanese woman who learned her English in Edinburgh--he just nails it!---utterly astonishing, but when isn't he?

Did I mention yet that in his reading of this audio book, James Frain sings? Yup---twice! Prior to this, he had sort of chanted some of "Row, Row, Row Your Boat" in another audio book, "Blood Hunt," and of course, as Philip Wakem in "The Mill On the Floss," he serenaded Maggie Tulliver (Emily Watson) in a dear voice that was pure Philip--sweet and clear and true. But in "Man & Wife," as Harry Silver telling his tale, he tosses off a very admirably tuneful line or two from "Singing In the Rain," and later on, in a deep, strong voice, he embellishes his story with a rousing few choice lines from "Do You Hear the People Sing?" from "Les Miserables." Abbreviated, for sure (and I know that I might possibly be considered just the teensiest tad mildly prejudiced in James' favor), but he genuinely sounded great! Certainly good enough for musical theater.....

The more I listen, the better and better (and better!) it gets. James Frain is perfect giving voice and life to Harry Silver, as Harry tells his own story. Somehow, maybe because James sounds so utterly natural and easy in the role of Harry (I know, I know--that's why they call it "acting"...but anyway....), it seems that Harry's voice and accent and vocal pacing as heard, might be very close to James' own? I'm not sure how to express this properly, but, well...just as James Frain seemed to totally inhabit the character of Lorimer Black in "Armadillo," in "Man and Wife" (and here by benefit of his voice alone), he thoroughly embodies the character of Harry Silver.

Harry's story is not a thriller nor a ripping yarn, in fact it's a fairly simple and all too familiar tale these days---divorce, single parenthood, re-marriage, "blended families," custody conflicts, missed opportunities, negative interpretations, unexpected sweetness, love, frustration, daily life---but it turns gripping in James Frain's telling of it. As he always does with every character he plays, he enables his audience to experience every emotion his character is feeling, sometimes like a gentle tickle, sometimes as a full frontal assault. Harry's story is at turns funny, poignant, ironic, outrageous, maddening, bewildering, tragic.....he's his own worst enemy, his own best friend, and, as I think most of us humans are, most of the time, he's genuinely trying to do his best. James Frain captures it all. Several times already, driving wherever, listening in my car, I've laughed out loud, and just as many times have found myself close to tears. I know that, to a large extent, it's about the writing, but I read "Man and Boy," Tony Parsons' book written in the same fashion about these same characters, and while I enjoyed it thoroughly, I never felt all that I do while listening to James Frain's miraculous interpretation of "Man and Wife." Parsons' words are shining silver--James Frain, with his enormous talent and many gifts, turns them into glistening gold.

Best--
--Carol

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Othello by William Shakespeare  1604
The Recording



First known performance: 1 November 1604

First BBC Radio Broadcast: The National Programme, 13 March 1932

First Broadcast of this production: BBC Radio 3, 30 September 2001

Recorded at: BBC Maida Vale, London W9


Synopsis: (From the audio disc cover) Ray Feardon Plays Othello with Anastasia Hille as Desdemona (& James Frain as Iago) in Shakespeare's powerful play of passion, jealousy and bitter rage.
BBC Radio has a unique heritage when it comes to Shakespeare. Since 1923, when the newly formed company broadcst its first full-length play, generations of actors and producers have honed and perfected the craft of making Shakespeare to be heard.

In this story of evil cunning perverting a once noble mind, radio captures Iago's sly hints and boasts to the audience with shocking clarity. The listener is led along an emotional path that grips with fascinating horror until the play's inevitably tragic conclusion.

The play is introduced by Richard Eyre, former Director of the Royal National Theatre, and the accompanying booklet includes a scene-by-scene synopsis, full of character analysis, brief biographies of the leading actors and of Shakespeare himself, as well as an essay from the producer on their interpretion of the play.

Revitalised, original and comprehensive, this is Shakespeare for the new millennium.


Review by Carol from the Yahoo! Groups List: Hi, Everybody— Thanks to the advice of the very knowledgeable and generous dear Eileen, I recently ordered and received a copy of the BBC Radio 3 recording of Shakespeare's "Othello," starring the incomparable James Frain as Iago. All of the actors are fantastic, playing their parts with such smooth and natural ability that I could easily follow the story and even (mostly) understand Shakespeare's unfamiliar words and phrasing.

Although I've read descriptions representing Iago as Shakespeare's most evil arch-villain, in James Frain's brilliant characterization, he's an amiable, even charismatic fellow, full of wit and grace as he deceives and manipulates others into acts of sabotage and destruction directly resulting in the brutal deaths of four people, including his wife, and, finally, his own torture and execution.

And why does Iago do this? Supposedly because of his intense hatred and jealousy toward Othello, but, ultimately and even more horrifically, simply because he can. The dastardly glee clearly ringing in James Frain's voice as Iago joyfully confides his planned treachery in smug asides to the audience is evidence enough of that! Never have such atrocities been perpetrated with so much charm. Yes, he coldly betrays and contaminates and destroys, but, just as capably, Iago winningly jokes, teases, flatters, advises, comforts, protects, recites bawdy rhymes, SINGS (all too briefly, but so well!), and, through James Frain's genius, becomes the devil we love to hate and hate to love.

We can't forgive Iago his loathsome utter viciousness, but in James Frain's animated, juicy, clever voice, we surely can enjoy it!

Best--
--Carol

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The Piano Tuner by Daniel Mason  2003
Synopsis:
(from amazon.co.uk)

"The Shan Hills," Edgar repeated and stared past the temples that stood like soldiers in formation to the mountains, which rose abruptly from the plain and seemed to hover in the sky. He thought of a river that ran through those hills, and how somewhere, hidden in the darkness, a man waited who perhaps stared out at the same sky. Who had yet to know his name.

On a misty London afternoon in 1886, piano tuner Edgar Drake receives a strange request from the War Office: he must leave his wife, and his quiet life in London, to travel to the jungles of Burma to tune a rare Erard grand piano. The piano belongs to Surgeon-Major Anthony Carroll, an enigmatic British officer, whose success at making peace in the war-torn Shan States is legendary, but whose unorthodox methods have begun to attract suspicion. So begins the journey of the soft-spoken Edgar across Europe, the Red Sea, India, Burma, nd at last into the remote highlands of the Shan States.

En route he is entranced by the Doctor's letters and by the shifting cast of tale-spinners, soldiers and thieves who cross his path. As his captivation grows, however, so do his questions: about the Doctor's true motives, about an enchanting and elusive woman who travels with him into the jungle, about why he came. And, ultimately, whether he will ever be able to return home unchanged to the woman who awaits him there. Sensuous and lyrical, rich with passion and adventure, The Piano Tuner is a hypnotic tale of myth, romance and self-discovery. It is an unforgettable and haunting novel.

Review by Carol from the Yahoo! Groups List: Hi, Everybody--
I finally got to finish listening to the audio book of "The Piano Tuner," by Daniel Mason, performed by James Frain.

The substantial excerpt from the novel, available at this link-- The Piano Tuner excerpt-- makes it clear that this audio version has been significantly edited and abridged, yet it remains an elegant, mesmerizing story of the unique physical and emotional journey of a fairly ordinary man, told in a delicate yet determined manner with an ending that's somehow simultaneously brutal and benign.

There's history, music, intrigue, danger, lust, restraint.... James Frain's gentle, juicy, clever narration heightens the sensual satisfactions of the tale--the fragrance of spices, the jungle heat, flashes of color, bursts of sound, the teasing of dreams and stolen moments--while maintaining all the mystery of the story's exotic people and places. As always with his audio book performances, I'm as captivated by his beautiful voice and subtle, ingenious characterizations as I am by the writer's wonderful words, and am not really sure just how much the latter depends upon the former, although in this case I suspect it's considerable.....and one probable explanation for why this particular audio book, although rich, seems too brief, ending abruptly while I still am wanting more (Story? JF?).

It's an uncertainty I'm willing to live with, however, as long as James Frain continues to do his brilliant audio work! This "Piano Tuner" seems a short listen-- James Frain makes it a sweet one.
Best--
--Carol

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A Word in Your Ear: The Piano Tuner
By Christina Hardyment 1 March, 2003    The Independant

I found Daniel Mason's The Piano Tuner (Macmillan, 3 hrs, £9.99) compelling listening at first, not least because it is read with husky sensitivity by James Frain.

It's a convincingly drawn, if wildly unlikely story set in 1886, heyday of the Raj. Piano-tuner Edgar Drake travels to Burma to tune a valuable grand piano that has been floated by river into the heart of the jungle at the request of a surgeon-major who has saved countless British lives in the war-torn country by diplomacy with the Shan warlords.

The writing is delicate, acute, and often touching, but the plot, which hinges on an uneasy mixture of idealistic dreams and double agents, is clumsily speeded up by abridgement, and at times mystifying, with initially promising characterizations left ragged. Four tapes would have done it more justice.

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The Voice An Initial Production for Channel 4 in association with Bravo Network  2003
* note from webmaster
Thanks to Anita, we learned that The Voice began screening in Australia on August 10, 2003. We managed to retrieve the synopsis of Episode Three courtesy of ABC Online from Australia. We expect that it will make the rounds through Europe and North America in due course.

Synopsis of Episode Three:
(from ABC television in Australia)

Final Episode: The Voice Vocal Harmony

7:30 pm Sunday 24 August 2003

The Voice, Alan Lewens' celebration of the singing voice in all its forms concludes on ABC TV on Sunday August 24 at 7.30pm with God Only Knows: Vocal Harmony. This fascinating hour looks at the collaboration of voices that produces harmony, an extra dimension to the sound that the single voice cannot achieve. James Frain narrates.

In the 1950s gospel still belonged to the house of the Lord while its offspring called "doo wops" - four and five-part harmony groups whose voice were heard in the theatres and radio stations of black neighbourhoods - belonged to the devil. "Doo-wops" would become known as rhythm and blues and the tension between the sacred and the secular would shape all harmony singing.

Seen performing in archival footage are The Delta Boys, The Moon Glows, The Flamingos, The Clovers, Frankie Lymon and the Teenagers, The Chantels, The Staple Singers, The Dixie Hummingbirds, Ray Charles and the Raylettes, Bill Monroe and his Blue Grass Boys, The Rhythm Boys, The Boswell Sisters, The Mills Brothers, The Four Freshmen, The Everly Brothers, The Marvellettes, The Supremes, The Beach Boys, U2 and Seal. Included in specially filmed interviews are Lou Rawls, Ben E. King, Brian Wilson, Neil Sedaka, Phil Everly, Mary Wilson, Bono, Mavis Staples and Ahmet Ertegun, the founder of Atlantic Records.

Production Details: An Initial Production for Channel 4 in association with Bravo Network produced and directed by Alan Lewens, The Voice is narrated by James Frain.

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