Tuning in…
Tuning in…
Castaway
1 appearance
Press baron overseeing the Daily Mail, Mail on Sunday, Evening Standard, and regional papers as chairman of Daily Mail and General Trust.
On the island
Eight records
The first record goes back to 1920, although this record actually was made in 1908. But we can't get the one, there wasn't one made in 1920. The reason for that was that my great-uncle Northcliffe, who founded the Daily Mail, was so fascinated by anything in new technology, he arranged for the first broadcast of music in Britain. And this took place from somewhere in Essex and was broadcast by the BBC, I suppose. And Nellie Melbourne sang a piece from La Boheme.
Scherzo for Piano and Orchestra
Zoltán Kocsis, Budapest Festival Orchestra conducted by Iván Fischer
Played by Zaltan Kocciz, conducted by Ivan Fischer, the Budapal Festival Orchestra, which I happen to be Presidents. It is a wonderful young orchestra and will be one of the world's great orchestras.
How Ya Gonna Keep 'Em Down on the Farm (After They've Seen Paree)?Favourite
Record number three is one of Northcliffe's favourites. Now Lord Northcliffe loved new technology. Records were new technology in his day. Radio was new. Aeroplanes were new. And he was a great enthusiast for aeroplanes, for everything to do with the air, and for records and broadcasting. And one of the first records made was Eddie Cantor singing How You Gonna Keep Em Down on the Farm when Once They Seen Gay Parie. And he used to listen to this over and over again because he was not so much interested in the music as in the miracle of the voice being recorded.
Kirov Orchestra conducted by Valery Gergiev
Now our fourth record is Sotikovich's Symphony No. Eight. This is conducted by Valery Gurgieff. He is one of the world's greatest conductors.
Symphony No. 2 in C minor (Resurrection)
Israel Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Zubin Mehta
Now my next record is from Marla Symphony number two, conducted by Zubin Mehta, who is one of the greatest conductors of Mala, and I am a great lover of Mala.
Piano Concerto No. 1 in B-flat minor
Martha Argerich, Berlin Radio Symphony Orchestra conducted by Riccardo Chailly
The next piece I've chosen is from Tchaikovsky's piano concerto, Marga Argaric, who is one of the world's greatest pianists.
Piano Concerto No. 3 in D minor
Martha Argerich, Berlin Radio Symphony Orchestra conducted by Riccardo Chailly
Um this is Rachmaninos Picciano Concerto number three which is a very exciting piece.
Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra, conducted by Herbert von Karajan
So their last record is the Bruckner Symphony No. 9.
In conversation
Presenter asks
1:08How did you do it? Why have you succeeded where others have failed or are failing?
Well, I understand newspapers and I understand newspapers in depth and uh I have a great love of them.
Presenter asks
3:07Is the thrill of that kind of achievement why you've gone on doing the job and running the family firm? Because, um, quite frankly, you didn't need to work, did you?
Laying down in the sun. Uh well, how very boring. I mean, I couldn't imagine such a life. ... I remember him telling me that my future would be as an officer in the blues or the lifeguards ... and what a wonderful life it was, hunting and shooting and fishing and all this sort of thing. And I listened to this with a sinking heart, an utter horror at the sort of dreadful prospect that lying before me the last thing in life I ever wanted to do.
Presenter asks
7:53In what sense do you regard yourself as an outsider?
If you are an insider, it's very, very difficult to uh be immune from people approaching you and influencing you not to do this or to do that. and uh trying to distract your attention from your real business. to promote their idea of what your real business should be.
The keepsakes
The book
The Divine Comedy (including Inferno and Paradiso)
Dante Alighieri
I've never read Dante's Inferno, since a small boy. We had an ancient volume of Dante's Inferno complete with wonderful illustrations, and I greatly enjoyed looking at the illustrations, but as the text was in Italian I was really unable to follow it very much. And Dante's Paradise, and those I would like to be able to read.
The luxury
Well, I thought if you're on a desert island for any length of time, one problem you're going to have is cutting your nails. ... So I thought a pair of scissors would be the most useful thing you could have, because life without a pair of scissors would become very difficult. Chewing your nails is never a very satisfactory thing.
Presenter asks
9:48You went to Eton, but you didn't like it much. Why not? What went wrong?
Well, I didn't dislike it. I quite enjoyed it. It was in the wartime. Consequently the masters all brought back from retirement. And they were very amiable, but I'm afraid in that doubtage a lot of them. Bit old-fashioned. And the atmosphere of Victorian education didn't uh fit my uh mentality barely.
Presenter asks
17:00Do you think your newspapers should back Tony Blair at the next election?
I have a suspicion that some of them might.
Presenter asks
32:16When are you going to retire? When are you going to hand over the reins to your son?
Well, um he's only twenty eight, so it'll be quite a long and he's very able. He's running a newspaper, he's doing it very well. He's a very tough young man, he had a very tough upbringing, um and he's very capable.
“I have always had an ability to see into the future and I have an extraordinary rapport with uh what will go down with the public.”
“Northcliff always took the view that to be a newspaper proprietor you had to be an outsider. And uh that's my view too.”
“I think once you put yourself on the public stage you become a game for the press, whether it's fair or not is neither here nor there, life is not a fair thing.”