Tuning in…
Tuning in…
Castaway
1 appearance
Photographer and designer, best known for his iconic portraits and stage and film costume designs.
On the island
Eight records
Werner Hollweg and Teresa Stratas
the reason why I've uh had such a … upbringing in music or comedy was the fact that I first heard the Merry Widow when I was five years old and living in a house in Hampstead.
Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra, conducted by Herbert von Karajan
Does that remind you of the Diagolev days? Oh, entirely so. … I used to go as much as I possibly could to the valley.
Oh, it's Fred Aster. He was one of the great men of the time. and he just uh had arrived in Hollywood and he burst into flame.
Paris Conservatoire Orchestra conducted by Roger Désormière
It's something from the Russian ballet by Francis Poulac called Les Biche. It was so much an influence over the Russian ballet that it's become part of their repertoire.
We've talked enough about the film. We'll let ourselves swoon in our seats as we hear the old song Gee Gee.
You prefer to have an orchestral version. And then you can sing it yourself. Yes, I used to sing it myself. to a very large extent in the bath.
Die zwei blauen Augen (Two Blue Eyes)
Marla, because I loved Marla. and here he's sung by that extraordinary person, Janet Baker. She can sing anything, as far as I concern.
Symphony No. 1 in C major, Op. 21: IV. Adagio - Allegro molto e vivaceFavourite
NBC Symphony Orchestra conducted by Arturo Toscanini
I particularly enjoyed him in the afternoons, in the thirties, when I went to all the Sunday afternoon concerts at the Carnegie Hall.
In conversation
Presenter asks
1:20What did you play [in the school theatricals at St. Cyprian's]?
Well, I played … A part I don't think was very suited to me. I was just a sweet little buttercup. … And later I arrived sing as a prince in the Mikado.
Presenter asks
1:49Were your parents musically inclined?
I I think so, yes. Oh yes. I think they rather objected to my having such a uh easy time of it because I got all sorts of records.
Presenter asks
3:56What were you good at at school [at Harrow]?
I was good at taking photographs. And I was good at taking very amateur Pictures of people.
Presenter asks
5:09How long was it before you escaped from the city?
Oh, it was a long, long time. It was practically a year. But ju as a matter of fact, The city wasn't the most boring part. The most boring part was the uh waiting around and hoping for some sort of job.
The keepsakes
The book
Cecil Beaton
they're full of pictures of people unknown, people known and forgotten, but still alive in my memory.
Presenter asks
14:05How do you rate [on photographic equipment]? Are you a leather bag man, or do you like to take a lot of stuff with you?
I like to take as little as possible. I hate being cramped with my stuff. Uh I have to have lights, but apart from those, I really have had very, very l little in the way of encumbrance, and I generally managed to take these pictures with a small size lens.
Presenter asks
23:41Would you have liked to have been an actor, to have done more of it?
Very much, yes. If I'd had confidence and i if I'd had any sort of luck, I would have liked enormously to Swap. Occupations.
“I first heard the Merry Widow when I was five years old and living in a house in Hampstead. I heard it being played by the hurdy gurdy man in the street, and I used to listen to hear if pennies were dropped, which they always were. That gave me a tremendous feeling for the Merry Widow itself.”
“I didn't have an ambition. I wanted to just have a success at the sort of things that I was good at, and at the moment I wasn't good at anything.”
“I believe honestly that [detail] did count a great deal, and always has in all my work.”