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Vermeer exhibition; tennis on film; pianist Mitsuko Uchida

Michael Berkeley on the use of music in Vermeer's paintings, advice for writers from TV producers, tennis champions in new films, and pianist Mitsuko Uchida's Cultural Exchange.

With Mark Lawson,

For the first time, three Vermeer paintings of female musicians are on show together at the National Gallery, London. They form the centrepiece of a new exhibition examining music as a motif in Dutch painting of the 17th Century. Composer Michael Berkeley considers the various roles played by musical instruments in the art of that period.

For many writers working in TV drama, the trickiest things they have to deal with are the notes from the producers. At their worst, such notes can confuse and undermine a writer's vision. At their best, they can help a writer to see a better way of telling the story. Peter Bowker, writer of Blackpool, Desperate Romantics and Monroe, and Patrick Spence, the executive producer on Murphy's Law, Lilies, and Hancock and Joan, reflect on the best and the worst notes writers receive.

As Wimbledon gets under way, Ed Smith reviews two tennis documentary films. Venus and Serena shows the lives of the champion sisters as children, in their shared home and battling illness in 2011. The Battle of the Sexes, which takes its title from the famous 1973 match between Billie Jean King and Bobby Riggs, explores the relationship between women's professional tennis and the Women's Liberation movement.

For Cultural Exchange, the pianist Mitsuko Uchida selects Piero della Francesca's Resurrection. She explains how she was inspired by Piero della Francesca's fresco and why great art, whether music or painting, does not have to be technically perfect.

Producer Claire Bartleet.

Available now

30 minutes

Chapters

  • Vermeer and Music: The Art of Love and Leisure

    Composer/presenter of Radio 3’s Private Passions, Michael Berkeley reviews the exhibition.

    Duration: 05:07

  • Screenwriters' Notes

    Peter Bowker and Patrick Spence reflect on the best and the worst notes writers receive

    Duration: 10:06

  • Venus and Serea/Battle of The Sexes Film Review

    Sports journalist, Ed Smith reviews these two tennis documetary films

    Duration: 07:18

  • Mitsuko Uchida - Cultural Exchange

    The pianist, Mitsuko Uchida selects Piero della Francesca's Resurrection

    Duration: 05:08

Vermeer and Music: The Art of Love and Leisure

, opens 26th June at in the Sainsbury Wing Exhibition.

Venus and Serena

The film, is coming out Friday 28th June.

Credits

Role Contributor
Presenter Mark Lawson
Interviewed Guest Michael Berkeley
Interviewed Guest Peter Bowker
Interviewed Guest Patrick Spence
Interviewed Guest Mitsuko Uchida
Producer Claire Bartleet

Broadcast

  • Tue 25 Jun 2013 19:15

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