Franz Werfel: Forty Days

Franz Werfel's sprawling, haunting novel about the tragic Armenian genocide nearly a century ago - Forty Days - has been translated into radio form and translated by Jan Vedral with convincing success; the work was completed by Jiří Horčička in his extraordinary realization. The several decades since Mustard and Vedral's Forty Days have perhaps strengthened the moral appeal of the heroic story. The director's refined sense for the ideal cast was this time based on a strong middle generation of radio performers - Alois Švehlík, Ladislav Freja, Jan Vlasak, Josef Somr, Ilya Racka, Vera Galatíková, Tanya Medvecka and many others.