Joseph Roth:
The Radetzky March
Joseph Roth - The Radetzky March
BBC Radio 3: Drama on 3
Broadcast: Sunday 9th October 2005 @ 7:30 p.m.
The poignant and superb story of the end of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, told through three generations of loyal servants to the
Emperor - the men of the Trotta family. From the second half of the 19th Century when a Trotta saves the life of Franz Joseph on the
battlefield, to the beginning of the 20th century when world war and old age wipe the Trottas and their Empire from the map of Europe.
Beginning at the moment when the Hapsburg dominions began to crumble, and ending at the moment when the old Emperor's body is
finally entombed in the vault of the Capuchins in Vienna, this wonderful story builds an extraordinary and unique bridge from the 19th
century to the modern age.
Woven throughout the play are variants of its leitmotif - and that of the dying empire - Johann Strauss's "Radetzky March".
Adapted by Mike Walker, from the English translation by Michael Hofmann of the 1932 novel, "The Radetzky March", by Joseph Roth.
With Bill Wallis [Joseph Roth], Brian Pettifer [Joseph Trotta / Count Chojnicki / The Postman], Richard Bremmer [Franz Trotta], Elliot
Levey [Carl Joseph Trotta], John Woodvine [Emperor Franz Joseph], Nicky Henson [Moser / Wagner], Clive Swift [Jacques / Dr.
Skvoronnek], and Eleanor Tremain [Frau Slama / Valli von Taussig].
Other parts played by David Collins, Paul Dodgson, Chris Garner, and Paul Nicolson.
Music specially arranged and performed by Romanian violinist and musician Alexander Balanescu.
Directed by Tim Dee in Bristol
120 min.
Jim.
