Paul Scofield has narrated 9 audiobooks on Listento.it by 13 authors, with an average listener rating of 4.6★ across 26 ratings. The most-rated is Classic BBC Radio Shakespeare: Tragedies.

9 audiobooks
Cover art for Classic BBC Radio Shakespeare: Tragedies

Classic BBC Radio Shakespeare: Tragedies

6 ratings

Summary

Three powerful radio productions from the BBC archives starring Ian McKellen, Ronald Pickup and Paul Scofield and a host of celebrated acting talent. These three legendary plays, performed by some of the best-known theatrical actors of the 20th century, are the perfect way to commemorate England's greatest dramatist.

Romeo and Juliet: the Montagues and the Capulets are sworn enemies, so when Romeo Montague falls in love with Juliet Capulet, tragedy ensues. This fateful tale of two young star-crossed lovers is one of Shakespeare's most popular dramas. First broadcast in 1970, starring Ian McKellen as Romeo.

Hamlet: one of the most powerful, influential and thrilling tragedies in the English language, and the story of Prince Hamlet and his quest for vengeance never fails to enthral. First broadcast in 1971, starring Ronald Pickup as the Prince of Denmark.

Macbeth: the notorious 'Scottish Play' is a gripping tale of vaulting ambition, witchcraft, madness and murder that has kept generations of audiences spellbound. First broadcast in 1966, starring Paul Scofield as Macbeth and Peggy Ashcroft as Lady Macbeth.

Recorded at BBC Broadcasting House and featuring the BBC Drama Repertory company, with specially composed music including a score from the BBC Radiophonic Workshop, this is classic radio drama at its finest. Duration: 7 hours 30 mins approx.

©2016 BBC Worldwide Limited (P)2016 BBC Worldwide Limited

Available on Audible
Cover art for The Waste Land & Four Quartets

The Waste Land & Four Quartets

3 ratings

Summary

These are masterly readings, by renowned thespian Paul Schofield, of two substantial works of poetry by T.S. Eliot.

"The Wasteland", first published in 1922, is one of Eliot's most influential works and has long been on the syllabus for A-Level English Literature.

"Four Quartets" consists of four long poems, first published between 1935 and 1942. They are linked by common themes, and are individually "Burnt Norton", "East Coker", "The Dry Salvages", and "Little Gidding".

©2007 BBC Audiobooks LTD (P)2007 BBC Audiobooks LTD

Length: 1 hr and 34 mins
Available on Audible
Cover art for Henry IV, Part 1 (Dramatised)

Henry IV, Part 1 (Dramatised)

1 rating

Summary

One of Shakespeare’s most popular plays is here performed by The Marlowe Society with Anthony Jacobs, Corin Redgrave, Paul Scofield and many other very fine actors. The story itself follows on from that of Shakespeare’s Richard II (also available in this series) and begins with Hotspur's battle at Homildon against the Douglas late in 1402 and ends with the defeat of the rebels at Shrewsbury in the middle of 1403. Within those boundaries are many familiar themes; having ascended to the throne Henry begins to doubt the loyalty of his friends and amplifies the power of his enemies. But Henry must move to quell those who might usurp him….

©2010 Horse's Mouth (P)2010 Horse's Mouth

Available on Audible
Cover art for King Lear

King Lear

1 rating

Summary

The tragedy of King Lear receives an outstanding performance in an all-star cast led by Britain’s senior classical actor, Paul Scofield. He is joined by Alec McCowen as Gloucester, Kenneth Branagh as The Fool, Harriet Walter as Gonerill, Sara Kestelman as Regan and Emilia Fox as Cordelia. This is the 9th recording of Shakespeare plays undertaken by Naxos AudioBooks in conjunction with Cambridge University Press, and is directed by John Tydeman. It was released to mark the 80th birthday of Paul Scofield in January 2002. PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying reference material will be available in your Library section along with the audio.

©2002 CUP (P)2002 Naxos AudioBooks

Length: 3 hrs and 6 mins
Available on Audible
Cover art for The Old Curiosity Shop

The Old Curiosity Shop

Summary

We defer to AudioFile for a spot-on description of this award-winning audio edition of The Old Curiosity Shop. "This 1841 exercise in pathos and villainy defines 'Dickensian' in all its fascinatingly repulsive excess, containing as it does one of the most celebrated scenes in all Victorian fiction - the death of Little Nell. The abridgment heard here excises many of the author's tedious redundancies (he was paid by the word) while retaining most of what makes Dickens Dickens. Scofield, one of the giants of the British stage, turns the redaction into a lesson in actor's tact. He has decided to meet the melodrama head on but with the utmost control. He gives us the lush narrative intimately, as if reading to us at our elbow, and engraves the characters with all the vividness of an aural Daumier or Hogarth. He pulls out the stops on heaviness and gloom without actually becoming bogged down by them, his warmth and love of the material keeping him buoyant. In addition to his histrionic acumen and artistry, he possesses one of the most distinctive and exciting voices of the English-speaking world. It would be a pleasure to hear him read the London phone book. Warning: Sensitive listeners should purchase a box of Kleenex to keep handy before playing this recording." Y. R. Winner of AudioFile Earphones Award ©AudioFile, Portland, Maine

Public Domain (P)1997, 2016 Dove Audio / Phoenix Books

Narrator: Paul Scofield
Length: 5 hrs and 51 mins
Available on Audible
Cover art for Classic Radio Theatre: Private Lives (Dramatised)

Classic Radio Theatre: Private Lives (Dramatised)

Summary

Paul Scofield and Patricia Routledge star in Noël Coward’s classic comedy of manners. Private Lives was written in 1930 and has been a mainstay of British theatre ever since.

This sharply funny play of reversals focuses on Elyot and Amanda, a passionate but feuding couple who divorced five years before. Now, on the first night of their honeymoons with their new partners, they find that they are all staying in the same hotel on the French Riviera. Fireworks are inevitable....

The roles of the two ex-spouses are brilliantly recreated by Paul Scofield and Patricia Routledge, while Coward’s scintillating repartee epitomises all the glamour and sophistication of life between the wars for society’s spoilt darlings.

The Classic Radio Theatre range presents notable radio productions of much-loved plays by some of the most renowned playwrights, and starring some of our finest actors.

©1930 Noel Coward (P)2010 BBC Audiobooks Ltd

Available on Audible
Cover art for Christmas Present

Christmas Present

Summary

This unique presentation combines classic children's favorites with an anthology of stories, poems, and songs of the holiday season.

©2019 Phoenix Books (P)2019 Phoenix Books

Available on Audible
Cover art for Classic BBC Radio Shakespeare: Romances

Classic BBC Radio Shakespeare: Romances

Summary

Three classic radio productions from the BBC archives starring Hannah Gordon, Tim Pigott-Smith, Paul Scofield and a host of celebrated acting talent.

These three legendary plays, performed by some of the best-known theatrical actors of the 20th century, are the perfect way to commemorate England's greatest dramatist.

The Winter's Tale: one man's consuming jealousy threatens to destroy both himself and those around him, but his actions arouse a passionate sense of honour, love, justice and self-sacrifice in members of his Court and family. First broadcast in 1982, starring Ronald Pickup as Leontes, with Hannah Gordon as Hermione and John Gielgud as Time.

Pericles: Pericles is haunted by Fate, buffeted by storms, driven from country to country and cruelly separated from his wife and daughter. Having endured the waywardness of Fortune, will he be reunited with his family? First broadcast in 1981, starring Tim Pigott-Smith as Pericles and Angharad Rees as Marina.

The Tempest: set on an enchanted island ruled by the sorcerer Prospero, this spellbinding tale of magic, illusion, forgiveness and repentance is one of Shakespeare's greatest plays. First broadcast in 1974, starring Paul Scofield as Prospero and Patrick Stewart as Caliban.

Recorded at BBC Broadcasting House and featuring the BBC Drama Repertory company, with specially composed music, this is classic radio drama at its finest.

©2016 BBC Worldwide Ltd. (P)2016 BBC Worldwide Ltd.

Length: 7 hrs and 31 mins
Available on Audible
Cover art for Martin Chuzzlewit

Martin Chuzzlewit

Summary

First published in 1843-4, the novel which Dickens considered 'in a hundred points immeasurably the best of my stories' concerns the Chuzzlewit family in all various branches. At the heart of the story is young Martin, who is disowned by his wealthy grandfather and dismissed from the household of the architect Pecksniff, and sets out to make his own way in the world and win the hands of Mary Graham, an orphan raised by his grandfather. Moving from comic absurdity to the darkest corners of human nature, 'Martin Chuzzlewit' is a study in greed, selfishness and hypocrisy, and it contains some of Dickens's most memorable characters - from the villainous Seth Pecksniff and Jonas Chuzzlewit to the selfless Tom Pinch, the 'jolly' Mark Tapley, and the drunken nurse and midwife Sarah Gamp - considered by many to be Dickens's finest comic creation.

©2009 HarperCollins Publishers (P)2009 HarperCollins Publishers

Length: 5 hrs and 51 mins
Available on Audible