The General Prologue & the Physician's Tale

This fine recording includes two versions of the same story from Chaucer's CANTERBURY TALES, and each is equally intriguing. Richard Bebb provides the voice for the Middle English presentation on CD 1. Bebb reads the "Prologue" and "The Physician's Tale" with such sincerity and skill that the unfamiliar pronunciations soon becomes lyrical to the modern ear. The early version is a fascinating contrast to the modern version, read by Philip Madoc and Michael Maloney. Madoc and Maloney are both gifted with mellifluous voices, making the modern presentation of the two works equally engaging. The CDs are accompanied by a useful set of notes about Chaucer and these works. R.F. (c) AudioFile 2007, Portland, Maine