He's a brilliant actor, but sadly miscast in this- painting a tall, slim, patrician and very elegant gay Englishman black does not make him a good Othello, no matter how beautiful his voice is- and I had the pleasure and privilege of seeing Gielgud live in three different plays. Apart from the 'blacking up', apparently his Macbeth suffered from the same problem.
@jonmath the best Othello I have come across is Willard White - I presume that historical racism prevented black actors playing the early parts, but I cringe when I see white men blacking up to play Othello. The black man with a white heart, and the white man with a black heart issue is one of the central parts of the play!
I have these Gielgud record, too. My favorite is Gielgud's rendition of Hamlet's speech, "O, What a rogue and peasant slave am I ...!" One of most dramatic recording of it I have ever heard so far. By the way, Gielgud was only 25 years old when he recorded this, which made him one of the youngest Hamlet ever recorded on a commercial recording.
He's a brilliant actor, but sadly miscast in this- painting a tall, slim, patrician and very elegant gay Englishman black does not make him a good Othello, no matter how beautiful his voice is- and I had the pleasure and privilege of seeing Gielgud live in three different plays. Apart from the 'blacking up', apparently his Macbeth suffered from the same problem.
jonmath 1 year ago
@jonmath the best Othello I have come across is Willard White - I presume that historical racism prevented black actors playing the early parts, but I cringe when I see white men blacking up to play Othello. The black man with a white heart, and the white man with a black heart issue is one of the central parts of the play!
mojoman4147 1 year ago
thank you for posting these mojo
kurumais 1 year ago
@kurumais no problem :)
mojoman4147 1 year ago
I have these Gielgud record, too. My favorite is Gielgud's rendition of Hamlet's speech, "O, What a rogue and peasant slave am I ...!" One of most dramatic recording of it I have ever heard so far. By the way, Gielgud was only 25 years old when he recorded this, which made him one of the youngest Hamlet ever recorded on a commercial recording.
transformingArt 1 year ago
@transformingArt fascinating - I would've dated this recording as a 1930's rendition. I had no idea it was late 20s :)
mojoman4147 1 year ago