Voice of the day

Reading books for public consumption is one of the hardest disciplines there is. You might think it was a breeze, just reading words on a page. There are no lines to learn, no stage directions to memorise, no grandstanding actor, chewing the furniture or doing little bits of business to ruin your scene. It's just you, and a page, and a microphone. What could be more of a walk in the park?

In fact, reading well is so remarkably difficult that only about four humans and a dog can do it. The amount of beautifully-written books of the week I have had to turn off, because some exuberant actor is strutting and fretting his hour upon the stage, is beyond count. There is always the terrible danger of breathiness. Then there are the ghastly pauses in all the wrong places, or the misconstrued emphasis.

Worst of all, is the conviction of certain thespian readers that the text must be acted. This is the highest sin. Books, poetry especially, must be read flat. The reader gets out of the way and lets the words shine. Prose is an oddly delicate thing; the wrong tone of voice can slaughter a perfect paragraph.

All of which is a long way of saying really I would like to start a petition to draft Samuel West in to read Everything in The World. It should be a law; it should be inserted into the constitution. He has always read very well, but in this week's Radio Four version of Paddy Leigh-Fermor's memoirs, he has reached his crest and peak. The voice is light and pleasing, the tone even and rhythmic, the pronunciation filled with clarity, the ego entirely absent. He even goes at the exact right speed. It's so good that you may want to listen to each episode twice, for the full beauty to dawn.

It is such a rare talent, and one very much overlooked. Hardly anyone except me bangs on about the beauty of a lovely reading voice. But when one is found, I must hang out more flags.

If you have the iPlayer, you can listen here.

Sadly, it's only on for a couple more days. I wish the dear old BBC would let us have access to their programmes for longer than a week, but I suppose it's something to do with bandwidth or one of those technical things. The iPlayer is such a miracle, and so much better than anything even nearly comparable, that it seems churlish to cavil. But perhaps a fortnight....?

Listen of the Day

The BBC are running a wonderful Raymond Chandler season on Radio Four. Toby Stephens is tremendous as Philip Marlowe. For those of you who can get the iPlayer, it is here.

iPlayer gem of the day.

If you want a soothing listen, there is a lovely reading by Eleanor Bron of Michael Holroyd's fascinating biography of Henry Irving and Ellen Terry here. Bron is one of those select few actors who really understand about reading for radio. I could listen to her read the back of a cornflake packet.

Portrait of Ellen Terry by Frederick Hollyer. From the collection of the V&A. Rather amazing to think this was taken in 1886. She looks so immediate and  modern.

Listen of the Day

For a good, chewy, thoughtful listen: Mark Lawson interviews Kenneth Branagh here.

Interesting on about four different levels. The interview covers age, ambition, Northern Ireland, Laurence Olivier, self-awareness, and fame. Many of my favourite subjects.

I had a massive hero-worship on Kenneth Branagh in the late eighties, when he set up the Renaissance Theatre company and was running three Shakespeare plays in rep. I went to see the production of Much Ado three times, I loved it so much. Halfway through As You Like It, the audience was breathless with laughter, which is not something you always see in Shakespeare. Then he married Emma Thompson and became tabloid fodder for a while, and all that rather got forgotten. But it is worth remembering what an extraordinary achievement that was. I still remember those plays, over twenty years later.

I also think his film of Hamlet was a very fine thing. It's worth finding on DVD if you have not seen it.

Apologies, as always, to those of you who cannot get the BBC iPlayer. It is such a miraculous thing that I wish it were available from Kansas City to Kathmandu. But sadly, it is not.