William Collins Books and Decca Records are proud to present ARGO Classics, a historic catalogue of classic fiction read by some of the world’s most renowned voices. Originally released as vinyl records, these expertly abridged and remastered stories are now available to download for the first time.
A collection of the greatest war poetry ever written, read by some of the 20th century’s most renowned actors.
Tragedy, war, and humanity are played out in these timeless readings of poetry written about, or on, the battlefield.
Performed by Sir John Gielgud; Peter Orr; Gwen Watford; and David King.
This collection includes poems from:
• Thomas Hardy
• WB Yeats
• Wilfred Owen
• Siegfried Sassoon
• Ted Hughes
• Edward Shanks
• Robert Nicholls
• WN Hodgson
• Patrick Mac Gill
• Julian Grenfell
• Edmund Blunden
• Edgell Rickword
• David Jones
• Robert Graves
• E A Mackintosh
• Edward Thomas
• Isaac Rosenberg
• Rupert Brooke
• Ivor Gurney
• CH Sorley
• John Masefield
• Edward Lucie-Smith
• Willougby Weaving
• John McRae
• IA Williams
• David Gascoyne
• Henry Reed
• C Day Lewis
• Stephen Spender
• Dylan Thomas
• Louis Max Niece
• Alan Ross
• Sidney Keyes
• Ruthven Todd
• Michael Roberts
• John Betjeman
• Alun Lewis
• Roy Fuller
• Charles Causley
• Keith Douglas
• Herbert Read
• Patric Dickinson
• Hugh MacDiarmid
Wales - The Poetry Of - An Introduction. This proud nation with it's long history; sometimes rough, hewn from bleak landscapes, sometimes gently soft from its comforting voices has produced a long succession of artists and poets. In the latter category Louis MacNeice most probably stands pre-eminent, his words and phrasing are on a plane few can equal and most are in awe of. But in this volume we do put forward others who have their own words and voice to add to this rich tapestry. Wilfred Owen, Henry Vaughan, George Herbert and Edward Thomas amongst them.
Matthew Rhys and Kate Burton headline a Welsh and Welsh-American cast celebrating the centenary of Dylan Thomas’ birth in a performance of his timeless “play for voices.” With characters such as Captain Cat, Polly Garter, and Nogood Boyo, Thomas brings to life the inhabitants of the fictional town of Llareggub in funny, poignant, and poetic detail.
Includes a conversation with Andrew Lycett, author of Dylan Thomas: A New Life.
An L.A. Theatre Works full-cast production, starring Matthew Rhys, Kate Burton, Laura Evans, John Francis, Jason Hughes, Christopher Monger, Cerris Morgan-Moyer, Jo Osmond, and Morgan Ritchie.
Directed by Sara Sugarman. Recorded before a live audience by L.A. Theatre Works.
Richard Burton's voice has been digitally remastered and seamlessly mixed with an all-Welsh cast to create a magical, fresh visit to the unique but universally recognisable world of Llareggub. Richard Burton's inimitable narration as the Narrator in the BBC's 1963 recording of 'Under Milk Wood' was hugely acclaimed. In this 2003 production, the famous radio play has been given a fresh lease of life. Richard Burton's unforgettable performance joins a celebrated all-Welsh cast in a highly-acclaimed dramatisation of this classic 'play for voices'. Touching, eerie and very funny, the play tells the story of a day in the life of the inhabitants of a small Welsh seaside town, their dreams and routines, their loves and regrets, their hopes and fears. With characters and phrases that have entered common parlance, the play opens with 'To begin at the beginning' and features such much-loved characters as No Good Boyo, Lilly Smalls, Polly Garter, Organ Morgan and Captain Cat. Among the all-Welsh cast are Sian Phillips, Matthew Rhys and Glyn Houston, as well as a special guest appearance by John Humphrys. With an entrancing new musical score by John Hardy, this production is set to become the classic version of a spellbinding play.
'To begin at the beginning: it is spring, moonless night in the small town, starless and bible-black...' When Richard Burton breathed the opening words of Under Milk Wood into a microphone, broadcasting history was made. For this 'play for voices' conjures up the intimate dreams and waking lives of the inhabitants of a Welsh seaside village in a remarkable way. It is bawdy and beautiful; its colourful characters lust and love, gossip and fantasise. Through the magic of language, Under Milk Wood creates a rich modern pastoral which, once heard, touches the listener with its poetry and haunts the imagination for ever. This radio drama is the completed version broadcast in 1963 which includes several passages that were omitted from the first recording in 1954.
Under Milk Wood is Dylan Thomas's undisputed and unforgettable masterpiece - an affectionate, but hilarious portrait of a small Welsh town. The classic 1954 recording, featuring a perfect cast led by Richard Burton as 'First Voice', is rightly considered to be definitive. This collection also includes two earlier radio programmes: Return Journey to Swansea and Quite Early One Morning, read by Dylan Thomas and others. Enjoyable in their own right, they also provide a fascinating insight into the process that led towards Under Milk Wood.
A quizzical look at the life and legend of celebrated poet Dylan Thomas, through the critical eyes of the infamous Chelsea Hotel. In Room 206 of the Chelsea Hotel in New York, Dylan Thomas went into the coma that led to his death.
Dylan Thomas is one of the 20th century's most celebrated poets. His rich rhetoric created poems of magical imagery, and nowhere is language more rich and fantastic than in his best-known work, 'Under Milk Wood'. He was also a popular radio entertainer and the BBC Archives contain a wealth of material featuring Dylan Thomas - not only readings of his own work, but also dramatic readings of other work such as 'Dr Faustus'. These, together with interviews with the poet, form a fascinating audio portrait of a brilliant man. Presented by Paul Ferris, biographer of Thomas and editor of his letters.Includes: 'The Hand that Signed the Paper' (18.10.38), 'Return Journey to Swansea' (15.6.47), poems (24.9.49, 26.10.52, 25.9.50) and prose: (3.11.52, 17.6.53, 5.10.53, 5.11.53).
This varied, well-chosen selection brings onto one CD set the best of Dylan Thomas. Here is the legendary recording of Under Milk Wood, with Richard Burton and Richard Bebb as narrators; but here also are two radio productions he wrote before that great classic, and though interesting in their own right, they show how Under Milk Wood grew gradually in his imagination. Thomas was a charismatic if idiosyncratic performer of his own poetry and stories and here is a representative selection. Performances of Dylan Thomas have since moved on and the greatness of the writer as a poet and storyteller are perhaps best heard in new recordings by actors of our own time. Here Bebb, Madoc, and Hughes share some of Thomas's finest, most challenging and endearing works.
First recorded in February of 1952, this remastered recording of Dylan Thomas reading A Child's Christmas in Wales recalls all of the sights, smells, and sounds of a long-ago Christmas.
Thomas's wonderful recollection of this holiday in the seaside town of his youth is captured in this vivid performance. Also included are five poems selected and read by Dylan Thomas, including arguably his most well-known Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night.
Includes:
A Child's Christmas in Wales
Fern Hill
Do Not Go Gentle Into
That Good Night
In the White Giant's Thigh
Ballad of the
Long-Legged Bait
Ceremony After a Fire Raid
