OLD GORIOT

Balzac wrote about the grasping Parsian society of the 1820s. Not much has changed for the cynic since then. Here is a meticulously observed story of love and greed about an old man who is victimized by his daughters. Reminiscent of KING LEAR, it also resonates today with the clarity of the poet's barbed pen. The ridicule here is overlayed with a sadness addressed to readers in hopes of raising their conciousness of the decadence of society. Frederick Davidson is brilliant, deadening his voice for the dreadful daughters and their ghastly husbands, as well as portraying each ridiculous tenant in the boardinghouse where Goriot and the student Ratignac live. But it is Goriot's deathbed scene that causes the hairs to rise on the backs of listeners' neck. Listeners live through this horror and cannot remain unmoved. B.H.B. © AudioFile 2002, Portland, Maine [Published: APR/MAY 02]