The Old Testament

[Editor's Note: The following is a combined review with THE NEW TESTAMENT.]--These two attractive six-CD sets contain beautifully read selections from the King James Version, peppered with classical music selections from the Naxos catalogue. Production, performances, and editing are top-notch. The Old Testament and the New Testament each feature an ensemble of four actors. Included with each set is a twenty-page booklet containing track listings, an overview of the contents with background information, and biographies of the readers. Citation references in these liner notes are sketchy and uneven, with chapter citations provided for some discs, while only the book names for other discs. All of the performers are high quality, with Michael Sheen and Josette Simon (for the Old Testament) and Reverend Hugh Dickinson (reading the Gospels) and Dermot Kerrigan (reading Acts of the Apostles) being especially memorable. S.E.S. (c) AudioFile 2002, Portland, Maine