THE GREAT POETS: PERCY BYSSHE SHELLEY

Bertie Carvel's lovely, smooth British voice sails through these selected Shelley poems. His delivery highlights many sides of Shelley, from the idealistic youth, to the political upstart, making the production an excellent sampling of Shelley's poems. The recording falls short, however, in its timing. The poems seem oddly organized (the fiery poem "The Mask of Anarchy" is followed by the much more sedate "The Cloud"), and the pauses between each poem are so fleeting that in some places the listener confuses a new poem with the previous one. Carvel's impressive performance aside, this collection works better as a recorded catalogue, rather than as a harmonic presentation of Shelley's finest works. A.H.A. © AudioFile 2008, Portland, Maine [Published: OCTOBER 2008]