Tuning in…
Tuning in…
Castaway
1 appearance
Excellent English singer.
On the island
Eight records
Keyboard Sonata in A minor, K. 54Favourite
The first one is something I'd like to wake up with every morning. I can't say that it's my favourite instrument, but certainly the instrument that I couldn't live without. The Scarlatti sonata I've chosen is is just something very delightful and happy.
Well, I think to be able to play a marvellous church organ must be like being an orchestra all oneself. It's the nearest thing one can get to a full symphonic sound that one controls oneself. So I'd have to have Bach, and I'd have to have the organ.
James Bowman, Janet Baker and the Glyndebourne Festival Opera Chorus
This is a reminding record, chosen purely for that reason. It reminds me of the theatre, which has been such a heart warming part of my life, something that I want to remember, colleagues that I want to remember, singers, and places, all the opera houses I've worked in. But this one is a reminder of the golden days of Gleinborn when we did Cavalli, La Calisto, which was tremendous fun.
Water Music, Suite No. 3 in G major, HWV 350
Academy of St Martin in the Fields
This is a a marvellously well known piece. I know so much handle, and so much rare handle, but it's all in my head. So I can replay that any time I like.
Piano Concerto No. 5 in E-flat major, Op. 73 ('Emperor')
Vladimir Ashkenazy and the Chicago Symphony Orchestra
I must have Beethoven. And in this record I'm killing two birds with one stone, because I want another keyboard instrument. I want to hear the piano. I'd miss the piano very much. So I get two things here. I get the Beethoven piano concerto number 5 in E-flat. And I get the piano played by Ashkenazi, accompanied by Schulte.
Symphony No. 9 in C major, D. 944 'The Great'
This must be Schubert, and it isn't the sort of Schubert you would expect. I have a lot of songs, again, tucked away in my head, so I can replay those to myself on the island any time I want. I've chosen the symphony number nine in C major because I'm being greedy about the sound of the orchestra.
There are English composers like Benjamin Britton that I feel so close to, perhaps too close to. You were saying before, sometimes it's impossible to choose certain recordings because they mean so much to you and in the circumstances of the desert island. Some of these who have been my friends would be overwhelming to me to listen to. But Vaughan Williams I never knew as a person. And his music is so uh evocative to me of England, which I shall miss so much.
Another composer that I couldn't possibly live without, which is Mozart. The overture from Cosi Fantotte, which is full of cheerfulness which I think I'm going to need.
In conversation
Presenter asks
1:08Could you adapt to solitude?
I think I could, very easily.
Presenter asks
1:13What would you be happiest to get away from?
People, I think. ... the fact of being alone is something that uh I never am and would fascinate me.
Presenter asks
3:16Was there a lot of music in the home?
Of the kind that came through a wireless set, yes.
Presenter asks
4:40What did you do when you left school?
I worked in a bank.
Presenter asks
The keepsakes
The book
David Cecil
I adore Jane Austen and read them at least once a year but there are too many volumes of that there's six different books at least and uh what I would like to do is to take David Cecil's portrait of Jane Austen instead, which will remind me of all the books. and keep me very happy.
The luxury
I couldn't think of anything until my father made the suggestion that what would keep me perfectly happy for the rest of my life would be a supply of pencils and paper on which to write.
Why do you think [Handel's] music suits you so well? What do you have in common?
I think it's like people, some people you meet ... you automatically like you don't have to know them very well, but somehow the vibes are right. And I feel that's true with composers. I I pick up a score and I feel somehow attuned to a certain type of person coming through the pages. ... Handel is definitely one of these for me.
Presenter asks
17:00Are you good at memorizing? Are you a quick study?
I have been for many years. I'm not any longer. As I have grown older I find it takes me a lot longer to pick up something entirely new. ... But for a long time this was no problem to me at all. It's a chore, though. It's n it's a chore that I don't really enjoy.
“the fact of being alone is something that uh I never am and would fascinate me.”
“I think in m my mind was the fact that you were either an alto or a soprano at that time. Though the idea of being a mezzo soprano, the middle voice came later.”
“I think all of us have a very clear idea of our capabilities and our limitations. We have to. Um it's very clear to me that I would never be able to sing Verdi much as I'd love to, Verdi, Wagner, Puccini, all the lovely big uh sixteen inch gun rolls, you know. I I'm not built that way and one one has to be sensible about it.”