Faking The Classics - by Jonathan Bate
Jonathan Bate, one of the country's leading Shakespeare experts, investigates why, and how, people produce forgeries reputed to be by very famous artists in a new two-part series. Produced by Matthew Dodd
Two episodes. First broadcast 2005-10-20 and 2005-10-27.
160/44; 64 MB total; sound quality excellent
20051020
Shakespeare
One hundred years after ShakespeareÕs death, the first of the fabricators arrived Ð and theyÕve been going ever since.Today, Jonathan still receives envelopes containing claims of unearthed manuscripts by the Bard.
By the 18th century, after a slow start, the cult of Shakespeare was growing apace, despite a lack of genuine evidence about the man himself. People wanted to know more about this mysterious playwright. No detail was too intimate or too small, so, identifying a gap in the market, one man became determined to fill it.
William Henry Ireland, the illegitimate son of Samuel Ireland (the creator of the first tourist guide to ShakespeareÕs Stratford), began creating a series of increasingly outrageous forgeries, starting with letters and bills of credit, then locks of hair and manuscripts, and finally two whole new Shakespeare plays. His father was delighted and put the relics on display and both father and son became rich Ð until they were finally exposed.
Jonathan tells this and more stories in the programme and enlists the help of Royal Shakespeare Company actors, and artistic director Gregory Doran, to see if it is possible to fool people in this day
and age with a spot of faked Shakespeare.
20051027
Mozart
Straight after his death, the Mozart forgers got going right away. What was to become one of his best-loved pieces, The Requiem, is certainly not all his own work. His premature demise also contributed to the confusion - his personal papers were so chaotic, that slipping in a work by another composer could be quite easy. With the help of the experts, Jonathan tries to untangle the real Mozart notes from the false ones.
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