In Catalinam - better version
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I've removed some of the noise from this version, it should sound a bit crisper than the last version I posted.Reproduced online courtesy HarperCollins.
Read by Gareth Morgan in the late 1960's.
2 Comments:
Why is it that a lot of the people who do these readings do it in such an overly dramatic manner? It almost sounds like a cartoon character or a witch reciting a spell over a cauldron. I would say that most of the readings I have found online are like that.
I would imagine that Cicero was more dignified in his speech, calm yet forceful; but not ranting and raving with these strange bursts of momentum, sudden stops, and exaggerated emotion.
Am I wrong?
I would say that you are wrong. Cicero was one of the greatest orators who ever lived, and we can be sure that, when he was delivering an invective against a scoundrel like Cataline, he spoke with passion. How can you say "O tempora! O mores!" without passion and gusto? Or "O dii immortali!" Or when he's addressing Cataline himself, asking him accusatory rhetorical questions. I think the delivery here is perfect, with of course the necessary element of personal interpretation that must accompany any rendering of a 2000 year old oration.
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