Tuning in…
Tuning in…
Castaway
1 appearance
A violinist and conductor, known for recording Elgar's violin concerto with the composer at sixteen.
On the island
Eight records
Willi Boskovsky and the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra
That's something I've loved since I was a boy. I love Strauss waltzes and only recently have I conducted the Berlin Philharmonic in a programme, and in fact my last evening in Bath when After ten years I gave up the festival. It was a lovely evening. Everyone dressed appropriately in period dress in the assembly rooms, and I led the orchestra much as Boskovsky does, and we gave them a Strauss evening.
Symphony No. 9 in C major, D. 944 (The Great): II. Andante con moto
Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Wilhelm Furtwängler
Well, I think he had a feeling for the spaciousness, the unhurried, typically Schubert walking gait, and because I adore Schubert.
Die Zauberflöte: "Ach, ich fühl's"Favourite
because of the music and of the singer. Uh I'm very fond of Seyfried, as most people are, and she has a particularly not only musical, but an innocent spontaneous quality. But it is of course extremely schooled, extremely elegant, and uh the interpretation is of a purity which is almost uh indescribable.
Yehudi Menuhin, New Philharmonia Orchestra conducted by Antal Doráti
It is a heart-rending, soul-searching work, and I think it is one of the great works for the viola, and I wish more people would play it.
String Quartet No. 13 in B-flat major, Op. 130: V. Cavatina
One of man's highest achievements is the string quartet, and certainly no higher than Beethoven's later works. This is a particularly soothing, warm and wholesome piece written by this extraordinary deaf man who heard more beautiful music than any of us can ever imagine.
St Matthew Passion, BWV 244: Final Chorus ("Wir setzen uns mit Tränen nieder")
Conducted by Willem Mengelberg
This is, for me, one of the great moments of my life. The first time I heard the Saint Matthew Passion was in Amsterdam, conducted by Mengelberg, and I was overwhelmed. I've never been more overwhelmed by a work of music than I was with the St. Matthew Passion.
This is one of the great pieces, I feel, of all time. It is a masterpiece, and one to which I am deeply devoted. having conducted it myself several times, and because I love both Ben and Peter.
Dido and Aeneas: Dido's Lament ("When I am laid in earth")
That is perhaps the most heart rending piece I know. It's the very last aria of Dido from the opera by Purcell. It is music of the heart, and moves the heart as as no other music does.
In conversation
Presenter asks
3:17Did you take to [the violin] immediately? Could you produce music from it at once?
Not at all. I was disgusted with the violin and with myself, and it took a little while until I could even crank up a vibrato. I had a lot of trouble with getting the vibrato, which of course I was very anxious to get because my dream of a violin sound is and was the human voice.
Presenter asks
5:14Did you sometimes resent [daily practising instead of going out to play]?
No. At the time I was quite happy to put in the investment and I enjoyed the results. I'm grateful to my parents for having Kept me seriously at the violin.
Presenter asks
10:03As a youngster, did you find any of these [great] conductors overpowering?
No, curiously enough I didn't. In fact, Bruno Walter was perhaps, along with Barbirolli, the most wonderful accompanist that uh that I've ever known. And of course so was Onesco… Uh I didn't find them overpowering, even Toscanini. who came the closest to being. might have been overpowering. I I held my own there and uh Didn't quite capitulate.
The keepsakes
The book
The Collected Poems of John Donne
John Donne
I can't remember the name of the poem, but it's one of the love poems of John Donne. I'd love to take.
The luxury
a whole album of many photographs of my wife
you have been so ruthless in not even considering my wife as another uh companion. I would then take certainly a whole album of many photographs. Of my wife.
Presenter asks
13:46What conclusions do you draw, having spent so long in looking back on your life [for your autobiography]?
Well, actually, I don't think I'd draw many conclusions. I'm afraid to crystallize, to establish some authoritative sounding dictum, for fear that it may very well be proven wrong within the next few minutes. The the only impression I have, as I thought back upon my life, is that it has had relatively few digressions which were not related organically to initial curiosities, uh loves, uh impulses. It has a certain shape.
Presenter asks
18:31Would you be able to make a hut? Have you any skill at that sort of thing?
None at all Not at all. I'm ashamed to say. But I wouldn't mind learning. I think it would be a rather useful thing to be able to do.
“my dream of a violin sound is and was the human voice.”
“The the only impression I have, as I thought back upon my life, is that it has had relatively few digressions which were not related organically to initial curiosities, uh loves, uh impulses. It has a certain shape.”
“I don't part with an instrument voluntarily, but I loan them. There are now at least four instruments of mine that young colleagues of mine are using.”