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Edmund de Waal

Kirsty Young interviews artist and author Edmund de Waal.

Kirsty Young's castaway is the artist and author, Edmund de Waal. His ceramics are on display in many of the world's major museums. They're delicate pots in shades of white and cream, informed he says by a great deal of thinking about literature.

His written work has also won him several awards; his book "The Hare With Amber Eyes" traces the rich and dramatic story of his family's Russian Jewish heritage and the diaspora in Odessa, Paris, Vienna, and Tokyo.

He says, "I make pots and I write. I'm not one of those people who by mistake became a potter or by mistake is a writer - they are both completely entwined."

Producer: Isabel Sargent.

Available now

45 minutes

Last on

Fri 30 Nov 2012 09:00

Music Played

  • Ella Fitzgerald

    Mack the Knife

    • Compact Jazz.
    • Verve.
  • Richard Strauss

    In Abendrot

    Performer: Renee Fleming with the Munchner Philharmoniker conducted by Christian Thielemann

    • Renee Fleming: Four Last Songs.
    • Decca.
  • Herbert Howells

    Collegium Regale from Nunc Dimitis

    Performer: The Choir of Lincoln Cathedral directed by Colin Walsh

    • Choral Evensong from Lincoln Cathedral.
    • Priory.
  • Talking Heads

    Heaven

    • Stop Making Sense.
    • EMI.
  • Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

    Alla Turka

    Performer: Mitsuko Uchida

    • Mozart: Piano Sonatas K.331 & K.332.
    • Philips.
  • Philip Glass

    Knee Play 1

    Performer: Michael Riesman and the Philip Glass Ensemble

    • Einstein on the Beach.
    • Elektra Nonesuch.
  • George Frideric Handel

    But Who May Abide from the Messiah

    Performer: Sara Mingardo with the London Symphony Orchestra conducted by Sir Colin Davis

    • Handel Messiah.
    • LSO.
  • Castaway's Favourite

    • Johann Sebastian Bach

      Herr, Unser Herrscher

      Performer: Munchner Bach Orchestra with the Munchener Bach Choir

      • St John’s Passion.
      • Deutsche Grammophon.
  • Book Choice

    • The collected poems of Wallace Stevens - Wallace Stevens

  • Luxury Choice

    • An espresso machine

Credits

Role Contributor
Presenter Kirsty Young
Interviewed Guest Edmund de Waal

Broadcasts

  • Sun 25 Nov 2012 11:15
  • Fri 30 Nov 2012 09:00

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