Tuning in…
Tuning in…
Castaway
1 appearance
Distinguished conductor and Chief Conductor of the BBC Symphony Orchestra.
On the island
Eight records
Luciano Pavarotti and Helen Donat
This has a special place in my affections because it marked my debut at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, more years ago than either you and I will be kind enough to recollect now.
Don GiovanniFavourite
Cesare Siepi, Kurt Böhme and the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra, conducted by Josef Krips
In the period of reflection and tranquillity, if one ever gets it, I'm sure that one turns eventually and finally, as it were, to Don Giovanni.
Padre, germani, addio! (from Idomeneo)
Sena Urinak, who was unforgettable in the role.
I find the music spins along with wonderful wit and grace and style and speed.
Roy Fox and his Orchestra, vocal by Peggy Dell
I have a great affection for the big band sound. You know, the popular music of the dance music of the twenties to me is a fascinating also the lyrics which one can enjoy.
Ritual Dances (from The Midsummer Marriage)
Orchestra of the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, conducted by John Pritchard
We will hear the last the ritual fire dance, as it is, from those dances from Midsummer Marriage.
Symphony No. 3 (Sinfonia Espansiva)
Felicity Palmer, Thomas Allen and the London Symphony Orchestra, conducted by François Huybrechts
As the two singers on this particular recording, Felicity Palmer Soprano and Thomas Allan Barritone are the two singers I greatly admire, I would like to have the London Symphony Orchestra's performance
Danish State Radio Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Fritz Busch
His vivid sense of rhythm and his impeccable ear for detail meant that in a Brahm symphony you heard things you never heard before.
In conversation
Presenter asks
0:38Do you play music at home?
Oh, yes, I do. And usually, since I don't have time to go to chamber music or or song recitals or things like that. I love to catch up on that repertory which I was really brought up with.
Presenter asks
3:47Did you take it as a matter of course right from the beginning that you were going to be a musician?
Far from it, because we had so much music in the house, in the home, and usually it was associated with the thought of this dreaded half an hour per day of terrible studies on the violin, which I didn't appreciate. … I thought I would be a journalist.
Presenter asks
12:10How did your first chance to conduct at Glyndebourne come about?
I was actually swimming in the sea … And men came with loud hailers along the beach saying, Pritchard, Pritchard, Pritchard … I was bustled into towels and rushed in a car to Glenbourne because uh Doctor Bush was conducting the first part of Don Giovanni. He became very ill feeling, and all he could manage to mutter was get Pritchard, get Pritchard … I climbed into some evening dress and and conducted the second part
The keepsakes
The book
E. F. Benson
because if you're kind enough to allow me the version which one can get in America in which all the books are under one cover, I would have a gallery of English village life, headed by the inimitable Lucia, which would keep me from becoming morbid
The luxury
I would like to settle for the Vino nobli di Monte Pulciano, because this is a great little wine
Presenter asks
26:06How do you spend your time on these long plane trips?
No, I I never studied scores. I don't believe in that. So uh usually I read. I always take an absolute library of books with me on the plane.
Presenter asks
36:22How efficient would you be as a castaway?
Not at all. I'm not good at tying knots. I can't make part of a tree into anything useful except a walking stick.
“I always remember when he got near to his actual death, and I had already established myself as a conductor, and he said to me, Oh, you've done pretty well, but you should have been a fiddler.”
“I always remember he said to me, My dear boy, always use the laundries in the High Commissioner's residences. They're by far the best. Don't let your shirts go anywhere else.”
“I've always been extremely patient, and I think I would rather wait for that distant plume of smoke on the horizon.”