"1. Andrea Del Sarto (“The Faultless Painter”) 2. The Bishop Orders His Tomb 3. Fra Lippo Lippi 4. The Pied Piper of Hamelin - Two unmistakably charismatic British acting voices read the words of Robert Browning (1812 – 1889). James Mason (1909 – 1984) reads three of Browning’s historically inspired ‘dramatic monologue’ poems. Opening and closing with pieces both published in 1855 and inspired by real Florentine renaissance artists. Andrea Del Sarto might have found perfection as a craftsman but his art is still lacking the soul of a Great Master’s work. The 15th century artist, Fra Lippo Lippi possesses integrity through the portrayal of reality and honesty in his art, which is in stark contrast to the viewpoint of his church patrons. The Bishop Orders His Tomb is an 1845 satire on the hypocrisy of a Bishop and his superficial obsession with wealth and status. Also published in 1845, Peggy Ashcroft (1907 – 1991) provides a lighter but no less worthy monologue in her delightfully engaging reading of the revenge the Pied Piper takes when he is double crossed by the Mayor and Corporation of Hamelin town. - Arguably both a maverick in his private and screen life, James Mason was an actor who could effortlessly switch between playing the romantic lead and a multilayered villain. The sea captain, doomed for eternity in Pandora and the Flying Dutchman, the main protagonist in a Jules Verne adventure adaptation and a formidable spy in Hitchcock’s North by Northwest. Most of the time his voice barely belied his Huddersfield beginnings. Peggy Ashcroft’s passion and dedication for the theatre never ceased during her sixty year long career. In later life she successfully crossed over into television and film, most memorably in A Jewel in the Crown and David Lean’s A Passage to India. During the fifties Ashcroft was a regular performer of poetry on BBC Radio."

 Playing Time: 65:12 (approx)