TO THE LIGHTHOUSE

There is luxury in listening to these mighty English actors retelling the story of Mrs. Ramsay and her family on summer vacation on the Isle of Skye. Vanessa Redgrave is the loving mother and charming hostess everyone wants to visit. Juliet Stevenson adds her sensitive voice as the painter Lily Briscoe to the idyllic rhythm of long summer days by the ocean and the beach. As this is a production of the BBC, we are treated to hearing sounds and voices come from several microphones and far distances, a technique that gives the piece a three-dimensional shape. We, too, yearn for the trip to the lighthouse that Mrs. Ramsay promises her youngest child. J.P. © AudioFile 2006, Portland, Maine [Published: AUG/ SEP 06]