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David McVicar

Kirsty Young's castaway is opera director David McVicar.

Kirsty Young's castaway this week is the opera director David McVicar. He is hailed as the opera director of his generation and is in such great demand that he's booked up for the next five years. Opera appealed to him when he was still a boy, offering him a means of escape from his lonely and unhappy childhood in Glasgow. He immersed himself in it so much that now, he says, it's pretty well impossible for him to come to an opera fresh, somewhere it will already be in his memory. He says: "I didn't choose to work in opera - opera chose me. But I think opera made the right choice."

[Taken from the original programme material for this archive edition of Desert Island Discs]

Favourite track: Von Ewiger Liebe by Johannes Brahms
Book: Vanity Fair by William Makepeace Thackeray
Alternative to Bible: Bhagavad Gita
Luxury: Well stocked bar & fridge.

Available now

45 minutes

Last on

Fri 10 Oct 2008 09:00
Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ Radio 4

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Music Played

  • Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

    Soave sia il vento (from Cosi fan tutte)

    Soloist: Montserrat Caballe, Janet Baker & Richard Van Allan

    • Cosi fan Tutte.
    • Philips Classics.

  • Eddi Reader

    Ay Fond Kiss

    • My Fond Kiss.
    • RCA.

  • Castaway's Favourite

    • Johannes Brahms

      Von ewiger Liebe, Op. 43/1

      • The Exquisite Hour - Live Recital at St John’s, Smith Square, London.
      • Signum Classics.

  • George Frideric Handel

    Cara speme, questo core (from Giulio Cesare)

    • Handel: Operatic Arias David Daniels.
    • Virgin Classics.

  • Tom Waits

    Somewhere (from West Side Story)

    • Asylum Years.
    • Asylum.

  • Joni Mitchell

    A Case of You

    • Blue Track.
    • Reprise.

  • Ethel Merman

    Rose's turn

    • Gypsy - original Broadway show.
    • Sony Classical.

  • Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

    Piano Concerto No. 23 in A major - 1st movement

    Soloist: Mitsuko Uchida Orchestra: The English Chamber Orchestra Conductor: Jeffrey Tate

    • Mozart: Piano Concertos K.482 & K.488.
    • Philips.

  • Book Choice

    • Vanity Fair - William Makepeace Thackeray

  • Luxury Choice

    • Well stocked bar & fridge

Credits

Presenter Kirsty Young
Interviewed Guest David McVicar

Broadcasts

  • Sun 5 Oct 2008 11:15
    Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ Radio 4
  • Fri 10 Oct 2008 09:00
    Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ Radio 4

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