Ruth Leon recommends… Judi Dench/Benedict Cumberbatch 12th Night
Ruth Leon recommendsJudi Dench/Benedict Cumberbatch Twelfth Night
There’s lots of Shakespeare around at the moment celebrating the 400th anniversary of the publication of the First Folio, by his friend and fellow playwright Ben Jonson. Many of the current tributes on television and on stage are excellent, the product of 400 years of thought and appreciation for the greatest of all wordsmiths.
I was looking for just a snippet to share with you, just a tiny indicator of who he was and why what he wrote matters. My friend Adele found this, just a few moments of Twelfth Night, from the incomparable Judi Dench, supported by Benedict Cumberbatch and introduced by director Richard Eyre at the Hay Festival.
Wallow anew in Shakespeare’s glorious words in this tiny clip and, at the same time, use your analytical eyes and ears to appreciate the perfection of her breathing and phrasing. This, in microcosm, is why we still care after 400 years.
Not OK for singers and orchestral conductors, but OK for geriatric actors to keep going at 88. Right; got it now. (She should have stopped at “As Time Goes By”.)
This has nothing to do with Music.